


Cursed Kaitou Kid

by kimmy1412, YamiDawn33



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Blood, Blood Loss, Blood Sharing, Blood and Violence, Choking, Cutting, F/F, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Insanity, Kidnapping, M/M, Near Death, Panic Attacks, Self-Harm, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 47,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23285059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimmy1412/pseuds/kimmy1412, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YamiDawn33/pseuds/YamiDawn33
Summary: Kudou Shinichi was shocked out of his mind when he arrived to a Kaitou Kid heist one night and found that the phantom thief had attacked the police officers. After getting kidnapped by the man in white, he finds that the thief was cursed - If he doesn't get blood on him within a certain amount of time, he will die. There is a cure, and Akako knows it, but Kaito refuses to accept her help. Now, Shinichi is stuck helping the thief out before they both end up killing each other in this bloody mess of a story!Also up on Tumblr: Cursed-Kid-1412
Relationships: Hattori Heiji/Tooyama Kazuha, Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan & Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid, Mouri Ran/Sera Masumi
Comments: 7
Kudos: 63





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> I've added tons of tags for trigger warnings, but I'll add them here as well:
> 
> IF YOU ARE EASILY TRIGGERED BY BLOOD AND SELF HARM, PLEASE BE WARNED
> 
> Also, because the chapters were posted on Tumblr first, they will seem short here on AO3. If that bothers you, I apologize :,,,,3

Shinichi Kudou was at a loss. No, it was more than that. He was horrified and confused. What he just witnessed was unlike anything he had ever seen and he hated it. He dashed up flights of stairs, following a trail of fresh blood up to the roof. The detective slammed the door open and almost audibly gasped at the sight.

The luxurious phantom thief of the moonlight was now completely stained red. The thief’s movements showed confusion and uncertainty, which was very unlike his normal grace. Shinichi had witnessed first hand how this had happened: Kid had attacked people. He attacked the police officers, even Nakamouri himself. The thief didn’t do any serious damage to them, but it was enough to slow everyone down to a shocked hault. Kid had never hurt anyone at his heists, ever.

The Detective of the East had just recently brought down the Black Organization and found the poison APTX 4869. It had taken a while for Haibara to revert the poison into an antidote that wouldn’t outright kill the shrunken detective. Sadly, as soon as he took it, Kaitou Kid released a heist notice.

What a great way to restart his life.

“Kid, wait!!” he yelled out, taking a few steps closer to the thief in question. Kid froze in place. He was standing near the edge of the building, facing out towards the city. His cape blew behind him in the wind. The sharp smell of iron suddenly filled his nose. It was awful. Sickening, even. He couldn’t bear to face his favorite detective like this, but he didn’t have much choice. He swallowed hard before turning around, wearing his infamous poker face.

“Why, hello, Meitantei!” he smiled, shoving his hands into his pants pockets, “It’s nice to see you again!” Shinichi shivered. Something about his smile was unnerving. He could easily tell it was forced; his poker face was failing him. The detective took careful steps towards the thief, having to remind himself that he was dangerous now.

“Kid… Why?” he asked quietly, “What happened to you?!”

Many thoughts ran through Kid’s head.

How he wanted to tell the detective about what was going on.

How he wanted help.

How he didn’t want to put anyone else in danger.

How he was going to die.

“What do you mean?” he asked, a dry chuckle escaping his dry throat. The smell of iron was burning his nose. “I’m a criminal. Isn’t this what criminals do?”

Kudou stepped forward and grasped Kid’s arm. He pulled the thief’s hand out of his pocket and brought it up into the air, next to the sides of their faces. He looked straight into Kid’s eyes, giving him a furious look. “Not you,” he said, practically seething, “Never you.” He took a moment to look into Kid’s eyes before asking, “Who is making you do this, Kid? And why?”

Kid tried to pull away from Kudou’s grip, but to no avail. He was starting to shake slightly. His poker face was starting to falter.

“No one is. I’m doing this of my own volition!” he stated. It was a half lie, at least. This didn’t satisfy the detective in the slightest. His grip tightened on the magician’s arm.

“Lying, too…” he seethed. “Kid…”

Kid’s shaking became uncontrollable. The blood on his skin was drying faster than he would’ve liked. He began to panic a little, sweat dripping down his brow. He began to pull away once more more, a look of pleading in his eyes.

“Meitantei, I’m sorry, but I must-!”

“No!” shouted Kudou. He reached out with his other hand and grabbed Kid’s bloodstained shirt, clutching to him for dear life. “Tell me what’s going on!” he demanded. Kid’s eyes widened. The shaking, the pain, it was getting unbearable. Suddenly, his body seemed to move on its own as he pulled out a small pocket knife. He ran it across the hand that was grabbing at his shirt. Kudou let out a startled gasp as the knife slid across the back of his hand. Kid grabbed his bloody hand before he could pull it away and brought it up to press against his face. He leaned closer to the detective. He could feel the blood drip down his cheek, fresh and warm.

“Kudou kun…” he whispered, “There’s nothing you can do…”

Shinichi stared at him, completely confused. It was almost a tender move; being pulled in closer like he was. The teen’s voice went quieter and softer to match the thief’s.

“… I don’t believe that…” he said, “Whoever this is, whoever is forcing you… I will help you, whatever they are…”

Suddenly, yelling could be heard from the entrance to the roof. It was Nakmouri, who had finally recovered enough to make his way to the roof. He sounded angrier than usual, not surprising given the circumstances.

Kid was in a bit of a bind. He was running out of time, that little cut wouldn’t last him and the detective didn’t look like he was letting go anytime soon. A wave of sorrow rushed over him as a though ran through his head. He didn’t want to do it but-

Nakamouri had burst through the door.

He had no time.

Kaitou Kid whispered a soft apology before blowing some of his anesthetic powder to Kudou, knocking him out fairly quickly. He carried the detective bridal style and flew off, not saying a word to his best friend’s father. He left the jewel he had stolen where he had stood.


	2. Waking up

Some time later, Shinichi woke, completely disoriented. He grasped at his head to keep it from spinning too much as he sat up to look at his surroundings. His eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room. ‘What happened?’ he thought, trying to recollect what he could from the time before he was knocked out.

Another look around the room showed that he was clearly underground, in some sort of basement. He was laying on a well kept bed with clean, white sheets and big pillows. The floor was tiled and the walls were a slight solid grey. There was a single, small light that sat in the ceiling, barely lighting up the place. To his left was more wall, and to his right was a small nightstand. Past the nightstand was the door, standing closed alongside the wall to his right.

Shinichi looked more closely at the nightstand. On its top sat a clear glass of water and a small piece of paper next to it. He reached over and grabbed the paper, quickly scanning over it.

_Meitantei,_

_I’m sorry I drugged you last night, but there wasn’t much I could do. I have left you with a small glass of water here, since I figured you’d wake up feeling a little woozy._

_I should be back a little after you wake up. I’ll try my best to explain everything to you then. Please just stay still until I get back._

_Kaitou Kid_

Shinichi sighed. “Kid…” he whispered in a sad tone. He placed the note back down on the counter and picked up the glass. It was only then did he notice the white bandages wrapped around his arms. The aches of the injuries that lined his arms began to crawl to his head. Shinichi rubbed his arm. _'Did he cut me more while I was asleep?'_ He pushed the thought aside for the moment and went back to the glass. He looked it down, taking the necessary steps to check and make sure it wasn’t drugged or anything of the sort. Once he was satisfied and found nothing out of the ordinary, he took a long sip.

A short time later, a slam of a door followed by some shuffling could be heard out of the room Shinichi was locked inside of. It sounded as if someone had just entered the house, and then walked into another part of the house.

More shuffling. It sounded as if cupboards and drawers were being opened and closed. A kitchen, perhaps? More walking pursued, across the floor then down some stairs. They were headed right for him.

The steps stopped right at the door. A click rang out in the silence, followed by the door cracking open slightly. On the other side stood Kid, or who Shinichi assumed was Kid. The teen wore a black hoodie and ripped jeans, but he was also wearing his monocle. He looked somewhat worried; slightly panicked. He kept taking glances around himself and fidgeted in place.

“Meitantei…?” he called out quietly, just in case he was still sleeping. Shinichi shifted his body towards the door. There was no point in pretending to be asleep, especially if Kid was going to hurt him regardless. The detective looked at the thief dead in the eyes, his own eyes filling with anger and curiosity.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Kid almost audibly winced. The look in Kudou’s eyes almost physically hurt him. Looking at the detective in this state made him want to cry. He knew he was the one who inflicted the damage on his body and he hated himself for it. He hated every fiber of his being for it, but he didn’t know what else to do. There wasn’t many options for him.

The thief looked off to the side, trying to break eye contact. Suddenly the floor seemed very interesting. He began to play with his fingers and his poker face was clearly nonexistent; Shinichi could clearly read the guilt that formed the teen’s facial features.

“I…”

Kid didn’t even know where to start. How could he even explain this to the detective? Where would he even start? Would he sound like a crazy lunatic? Kid wouldn’t blame him. What about-

“Stop.”

Shinichi stood, tucking his hands into his pants pockets. He stared down the thief. It was odd to see him in this state: scared and unsure of himself. The sense of fear was more evident when the thief suddenly flinched when Shinichi spoke.

“You’re blaming yourself too much,” Shinichi ordered him. “I don’t even know what’s going on and I can tell that. Give me times. And names. When and who started this?”

Kid stood in the doorway in silence. It took him a moment to figure out how to answer the detective’s question. He figured he could lie; smooth talk his way out of it, but he knew the detective wouldn’t believe him in the slightest. The only option was to give the most honest answer he could.

“A witch,” Kid answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I feel the need to remind everyone that these chapters feel so short because they were uploaded onto Tumblr first before being uploaded here. I don't want to stick two chapters together, because then things will get jumbled and I'll only get myself confused sldkfjasdf


	3. A Mistake and an Impluse

Shinichi placed a hand on his chin and hummed. He had already slipped into an analytic mode. “Just one person, huh…?” he nodded calmly, “For what reason do you need to hurt people?”

Kid kept silent. He was getting scared of answering the detective; having said what he had was already too much. He could feel his neck tightening, like invisible hands were grabbing at his throat. He swallowed hard, keeping away eye contact. Shinichi took this as an obvious sign that the thief wasn’t going to answer.

“… Okay. Why am I here, then? Can you tell me that much?” he asked.

“That- That was a mistake and an impulse.”

Kid hadn’t meant to kidnap the detective. It wasn’t in his plans in the slightest. The old Kid wouldn’t have thought to do it in a million years, but something about the situation this time felt different. It almost felt as if Kid was trying to reach out for the detective’s help without even realizing it himself.

“Then, can you let me go?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kid seemed as if he were about to fall over. The feeling- the tightening around his neck - was getting tighter and tighter. It was getting harder to breathe...

“No, my dear detective, I’m afraid I can’t.”

Kid quickly straightened and brushed himself off. He had completely forgotten his poker face throughout this whole ordeal. The worst part was that it was in front of the great detective. He needed to keep calm and show that he was fine, otherwise no one would believe him.

He was fine.

That’s all there is to it.

Shinichi didn’t believe him in the slightest. It was a quick rebound, and very unnatural, at the least. The thief’s mask was easy to see though. The detective took some worried glances around the room. He was trying to see if he could find anything out of the ordinary: bugs, cameras, guns, bombs-

“… Is someone else here?” he asked quietly.

Kid waved a hand around in front of himself. “No, just you and me,” he answered, “No one else is around, nor does anyone know we’re here.”

Shinichi straightened as well. So, the thief wasn’t in any immediate danger. That was good. It gave him time to figure all of this out. It was quite an interesting case he stumbled into, that was for sure.

“Right… Listen, I don’t want you to hurt anyone else. So, if I’m trapped here anyway-” his throat was so tight- “and if I’d work, you don’t need to hurt anyone but me.”

Kid deadpanned. So the detective was crazy.

“What are you, a superhero now?” he asked. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned onto the doorway next to him. “What kind of stupid, lame request is that?”

The detective was taken aback. Did Kid seriously just say that?! Shinichi’s fists tightened. He gritted his teeth and yelled, “Is it wrong to want to stop criminals?! I can’t let you keep doing this!! If I can’t leave, then let me be that useful!!”

Kid slammed the door open. He mirrored his twin and yelled, “You want to be useful?! Then stop digging your nose where it doesn't’ belong!! That’s what got you in this mess, isn’t i!?”

“And what got you into yours?! This, this thing you can’t resist at all- the reason my arms are already covered in cuts- I’m supposed to ignore that somehow?! I don’t want to hear that from the guy who chose to be Kid; the guy who made him into THIS!!!”

The Detective of the East didn’t feel as brave as his words made himself sound. He was honestly trying to push back the nagging thoughts of Kid outright stabbing him for saying what he did, or if the thief has somehow snapped altogether.

Kid stared at Shinichi with intense eyes. His whole body was shaking, his fists so tight that the nails were threatening to break skin. He could feel it, that urge was coming back already. It was yelling, screaming for attention. The hands around his neck were giggling in joy over the thief’s pain and suffering.

_Do it._

_You need it._

_Right now._

_Do it._

_DO IT!!!_

Kid quickly turned on his heel and slammed the door closed behind him. He could hear Kudou banging on the door behind him, yelling his name. Kid quickly locked the door as to make sure the detective didn’t follow suit. He dashed up the stairs, through the kitchen and dining room and straight for the entrance. He ran out blindly, not having any specific destination or any care of where he was headed. All he knew was that he had to get out of there. Out of that mess, that desire that-

He had left Shinichi alone once more.

The detective dreaded this.

‘Please… Don’t hurt anyone…’

He had seen murder in the thief’s eyes.

If he killed, Shinichi would be responsible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is already getting kudous~ Thanks guys!! ///// if you think the angst is bad enough, just you wait because it gets WORSE >:3


	4. How Strong Words Are

A few hours later, the sound of a door opening and closing could be heard from upstairs. Someone entered the house. Shinichi kept as quiet as he could, pearching next to the door to listen in better. He could hear the sound of footsteps moving from the entrance to another part of the house. It stopped in the room just before the stairs. Suddenly, he could hear muffled yelling from behind the door. It wasn’t very loud, but it was just enough for the detective’s keen ears to make out some of the conversation.

“… keep him here…..!! You have to…..!!! ………right!!!!”

It went quiet. Most likely, the person on the other side of the phone was talking. It was obvious from the voice that it was Kid who was doing the yelling.

“…… of you!!! I can’t…….!!”

Silence once more. It was shortly followed by a loud slam. It sounded as if a large place was chucked onto a hardwood floor, shattering the instant it made contact. Then it grew quiet again. This was the final straw for the detective.

“Kid?!!” he cried, banging on the door. His heart was pounding horribly against his chest. “Kid, talk to me!!!” There was no immediate response from the thief. In fact, that wasn’t a response for another hour until the click of the lock on the door that held Shinichi in the room he resided in rang out in the quiet air. Slowly the door opened, revealing Kid on the other side. He was still wearing the same clothes, same monocle, but now-

His face was splattered with blood. It seemed as if there was some on his clothes, but it was hard to see with the dim room and black clothes. Kid’s eyes showed a sort of distance from himself and reality. The teen was clearly tired on all spectrums. His posture was slouched slightly and he was having a hard time holding the place of sandwiches that was he was holding in his hands.

“Here….” he said, “I figured you’d be hungry… Don’t worry, they’re completely normal and safe….” Kid held out the plate towards the teen on the bed, showing that they were indeed fine.

Shinichi ignored the food completely. He was staring at Kid in complete horror. _Why… what could have possibly have forced him…?!_ he thought as he stared at the blood on the thief’s face. He snapped out of bed, slamming his feet onto the hard floor. “Kid…. What have you done?!” he gaped.

The man in question blinked, confused. It took him a moment to remember that he still had the blood on his face. The fact that he had forgotten about it scared him a little.

“If you’re so worried, no, I have not killed anyone, I promise you. Here, eat...” he assured, taking a step closer with the plate still in front of him, “You’re gonna starve if you don’t.” Shinichi took the plate, but immediately disregarded it, placing it on the nightstand next to the bed.

“Talk to me,” he demanded, “What did you do?? How could you forget about something like that?!” Kid was determined to dodge the subject, however. He really didn’t want to talk about it in the first place and the small pain creeping on his neck wasn’t helping him in the slightest

“Hey, I’m serious, you should eat,” he said, looking back over to the plate, “I know how you are when you get into cases; you’re lucky that you had your girlfriend fed you all the time-”

Shinichi interrupted Kid, grabbing the thief’s wrists and pushing him up to the wall. The look in his eyes were sharp and serious. There was no way Kid was going to avoid the subject no matter what he tried. The thief tensed up. The detective was too close for comfort. He tried to squirm out, but to no avail.

“Talk to me.”

“Let go of me, Meitantei.”

Kid tried to match the detective’s tone of voice, but his vocal chords were failing him; it sounded quiet and shot.

“Why are you hurting people…. You have to stop…. That’s why I said - Just- just hurt me!!”

“I’M NOT HURTING YOU!!!” Kid yelled back, still struggling. His throat was growing sore. “I-I refuse to!!!”

“YOU ALREADY DID!!!!”

Shinichi quickly let go of Kid’s wrists so he could slap the teen. He then pointed to the bandages on his arms to emphasize his point. “So just shut up and listen to me!!” 

It took Kid a moment to even register that he had been slapped. Once he did, he slowly raised a hand to his face. He could feel the sting of the aftermath already creeping on his skin and it made him almost audibly wince. He looked back up to Kudou, eyes wide with shock and fear. Kid was honestly surprised that Shinichi would do such a thing to anyone, much less himself. He stood there silently, waiting for the teenage detective to speak.

“…I hate… I hate seeing you covered in blood like that… Knowing that you could have killed, that you’re not in control… I’m going to leave as soon as I can, and I’ll bring the police to catch you, but until then… You know I’m right. Just use me, not innocent people…”

Silence enveloped over the two for a moment.

“Tantei. You are just as innocent in all this as anyone else is.”

Shinichi lowered his head, leaning on his hand against the wall. It was too late for that idea to go through the detective’s mind. “No… no, I’m not….”

Suddenly Kid grabbed Shinichi’s wrists and pinned him against the wall. He swapped their positions; Kid was now the one with the seething expression. He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on Shinichi’s wrists as he yelled, “Yes, yes you are! I dragged you here against your will! Do you have ANY idea how hard it was for me to get you here?! I’m already on thin ice with her-!!”

The hands grabbed at his throat once more. They grasped at his neck, making sure to squeeze on all sides. Kid felt like he was choking on air. He quickly let go of Kudou’s wrists and reached up for his neck. He began to cough and hack like he was struggling to breathe. Shinichi kneeled down beside him and immediately began to look around for anything that could’ve been choking him, a sign, anything. But, of course, the detective couldn’t find anything. There was nothing there, but it was obvious that the thief was choking.

The hands decided just then that they were satisfied and let go of Kid’s throat. He quickly took in deep breaths and coughed more. His lungs took a moment to allow air to flow through them once more. Once he had calmed down enough to know he wasn’t dying, he noticed that Kudou was too close for comfort. The magician quickly pushed Shinichi away from him. He was shaking again, this time from the lack of oxygen.

He was tired. More than he should’ve been.

“Kid….” Shinichi whispered, reaching out calmly to the thief. He walked slowly over to him, gently grabbing the thief’s arm and pulled him towards the bed. “Listen… just… just rest for awhile…” he said softly. For a moment, Kid allowed the detective to help him. His eyes start to gloss over at the thought of some rest. He felt tired, like he hadn’t slept in a few days. He felt himself be guided gently towards the bed.

A second later, his eyes snapped back into focus. There were too many things that could go wrong in this situation and Kid didn’t want anything to do with any of them. The worst possible outcome would’ve been that the detective could figure out his identity and he didn’t want that at all. Kid quickly pulled away from Shinichi, stumbling backwards slightly.

“No! You stay here!” he demanded. He quickly ran over to the door and slammed it shut before Shinichi could stop him. He locked the door right after. Shinichi ran over to the door and started kicking at it, slamming at it with all of his might. He was hoping it wasn’t built too sturdy, but the door showed no signs of breaking down anytime soon. Over Shinichi’s banging, Kid’s steps could be heard running down the hallway and up the stairs of the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO IS "HER?" It's a pretty easy guess, why am I even bothering asking lol
> 
> If you have hopped over to Tumblr, you'll notice that I've only uploaded 22 parts... Yeah, I uh- I'm hoping to upload more soon enough. I apologize. Maybe once I get things organized once more... //sobs


	5. Secrets on the Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SERIOUS BLOOD TRIGGER WARNING. THIS ONE IS DEAD SERIOUS.

The next day, Kid walked back downstairs with a new plate of sandwiches and a glass of water for the detective. Today, Kid was wearing new pairs of black clothing, but they were also soaked in fresh blood. It was mostly on his arms and chest, so he could smell the metallic scent waft to his nose and it reeked.

He hated it.

Kid unlocked the door and opened it. He peeked in, leaning in more when he couldn’t see the detective at first.

“Hey…” he mumbled loudly, “I got you food again…”

It was only then did he notice that Shinichi was on the floor to his left, leaning against the wall. His entire body was bruised from ramming the door, the frustration obvious in his eyes. Kudou stood up quickly, pushing past Kid and slamming the door shut with every intention of locking Kid inside behind him.

The food and drink that were on Kid’s plate fell to the floor. The plate let out a loud crash as it made contact with the ground. Kid managed to catch himself before he fell to the floor, but it was too late for the turnaround.

The door was already closed and locked.

Kid quickly ran up to the door and began to pound on it. “Meitantei!!” he yelled out, “Please, open the door!!!”

“No,” Shinichi responded, backing away from the door. His head was spinning. What was he supposed to do now? He now had the option to leave; he was outside of the locked room and his captor was out of reach.

 _He’ll die. Or worse, get arrested…_ He glanced down the hall towards the stairs.

Or he could investigate.

On the other side of the door, Kid started to panic. He looked down at the blood that was soaked into his clothes. He knew he could only last a little while before the blood on him dried. He needed to get out, and quickly.

“Please, Tantei kun!! You need to let me out!!” he yelled louder, pounding on the door more. The detective forced himself to ignore the cries and looked around at his surroundings. It was a dimly lit hallway that was lined with doors leading to a staircase. It had seemed that the room he was in was at the end of the hallway. There wasn’t much else for him to do, so he went to each door and tried to see what was in the other rooms. Sadly, the rooms were either empty or locked. He headed towards the stairs.

Kid could hear Shinichi’s footsteps fading away from the door. He was walking farther and farther away from the locked room. His palms were becoming sweaty with dread. His hands were beginning to hurt from pounding on the door so hard.

“KUDOU KUN, PLEASE!!!” he cried out one last time.

Shinichi didn’t look back. ‘… He’ll be fine…’ he thought as he looked towards the stairs. He walked upstairs. The footsteps were gone. Kid slid down the door on his back and sat down on the floor. He sat there quietly, trying to think of ways to get out.

Once Kudou reached the top of the stairs, he found himself in a kitchen. It was a clean kitchen surprisingly; the only mess were the supplies from the sandwiches and little drops of blood stained on the floor. A fridge stood against the wall next to a bunch of cupboards. There was a sink right underneath a window. The sun was shining bright through the curtains. Past that was a stove and a microwave suspended on the wall above the stove. In the middle of the room sat an island with bags of groceries that hadn’t been put away yet.. A wide opening on the opposite end of the room showed the next room with a large table; a dining room.

Shinichi went ahead and grabbed himself some food before carefully searching around the room. ‘… Who was that person I heard earlier…. And who was the “she” Kid was talking about?’ he asked to himself as he searched. As he pondered the questions, he found nothing of interest in the kitchen itself besides the blood on the floor. It seemed to trail out of the kitchen and through the dining room. Kudou swallowed. With a bad feeling in his gut, he followed the trail. The trail continued down into a small hallway, the blood drops getting larger until it ended at a closed door. Shinichi’s hand curled around the door handle. He listened for a few seconds before slowly opening the door.

It was a simple bedroom. There was a large bed in the middle of the room with nightstands on both sides and a huge desk across from the bed. There was a small closet next to the door. The opposite wall from the closet had windows with matching curtains drawn down. The problem was all of the blood that covered everything. It was all over the walls, making it hard to see the deep sea blue wallpaper behind it. The carpet on the floor was caked with pools of dried blood. The bed sheets seemed to have spots as well; someone was obviously tossing around on it. It was all a few days old, but the smell was still sickening.

Shinichi took a step back, a gasp of complete horror escaping his agaped mouth. ‘Kid… What the hell have you done?!?’ he thought. He stared for a second more before going in, beginning a search for corpses. He did a thorough search, but happily came up with nothing. He did find that the blood was actually layered on top of each other, and that he could make out some handprints on the walls. He reached his hand up to the them and found that they practically matched his hand perfectly.

“Kid…. what the hell…”

It was only then did Shinichi realize he was shivering. This room was just unnerving to anyone, including himself. He quickly turned heel and stormed back downstairs. He needed an explanation from Kid. Whose blood was that? How many people had he hurt? Or _killed?_


	6. Ah fuck Meitantei's pissed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean obviously he's not happy about finding what looks like a serial killer room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Kimmy here <3
> 
> Yami got overwhelmed with the project of posting this, so I'll be taking over as is only fair!! 
> 
> (so if you notice stylistic differences, that's why)
> 
> I won't be posting on tumblr. The chapters will be longer. This will be one of the shorter ones, I'm paying attention to the story as I break them up. It's a bit difficult since the story wasn't originally written in chapters... 
> 
> There will be 26 in total.... I've got my work cut out for me!! 
> 
> Please enjoy!!

Back to Kaito, he was using his fingers and pocketknife to try to unscrew the nails on the hinges of the door. 

"Come... on...." he mumbled. He almost got one hinge off when he heard the thumping of footsteps coming towards him.

Shinichi opened the door and snatched the knife from his hands, closing it and stuffing it in his pockets. "Why is there so much blood upstairs? What the hell did you do?"

"Hey- I need that!!" He exclaimed, rushing over to grab it from the detective.

He blocked his hand, slapping him away. "No. Answer me. Now."

Kaito tried again for the knife.

Shinichi punched him, hard. There was no way he could let Kaito lock him up again.. at least, not without giving him some more information. The blood red room was still in his mind, along with all those injured guards... 

"I SAID ANSWER!!!"

Kaito flew to the floor from the punch. He grasped at where the detective punched him. He laid there on the floor for a bit, waiting until he recovered before doing anything.

"I......."

He didn't look at Shinichi when he spoke.

"I need.... I need blood in order to live...."

"Why suddenly? Why now?? What did you do before?! Where did all that blood come from?!" He tried and failed to calm down. The sight of Kid like this was heartbreaking, but it was only fueling the anger boiling over.

"I-it's a long story!" He tried to explain, getting flustered. "And it's not one I can explain easily, even if I was able to-!!!"

The hands tightened around his neck for a second as if to say 'Watch what you're saying- we're listening~'. His voice was cut off and his breath hitched for a second.

"... That. Is someone doing something to keep you quiet?" He asked him, getting on one knee beside him.

Kaito looked away. He didn't answer.

".. Okay." He took a deep breath. ".... How much blood do you need....?"

The thief closed his eyes. He grabbed at the area where Kudou punched him tightly. 

".....Until my body is 'satisfied'...." he whispered. He hated talking about this. He wanted to drop the conversation already. 

He didn't want to look at Meitantei at all.

He felt so ashamed.

".... Go lay on the bed." He stood, loosening his tie.

Kaito blinked, looking up at the detective in surprise. "H-huh...?"

"Don't make me repeat myself so much!!" He pulled him to his feet.

"W-what are you-?!"

He pushed him over to the bed, tying his wrists to the headboard with his tie. "Geez, it's not that hard!! Quit thinking perverted things, barou!!"

"Yeah, well, kinda hard to with what you're doing here!!" Kaito panicked.

"Tch..." His face was pink. "Do you need blood now, or are you going to shut up and go to sleep?"

Kaito's face went slightly pink as well. Fuck.

"N-no.... no, I'm fine, but-!!!"

He struggled to get out of the tie. For some reason, he has just been so uncoordinated lately.

"Mhm. Okay. Hungry? There's sandwiches going to waste." He crossed his legs elegantly. "And... where did you put my phone?"

Kaito blinked in shock. What in the fuck just happened?!?!

"W-w-wait a minute!! Since when are you taking the shots here?!?!" he exclaimed, wiggling around. He was still trying to get out of the grip of the tie.

"Don't argue," he raised an eyebrow. "I told you, I won't let you hurt people anymore. So don't worry. "

Kaito stopped moving around and looked at Shinichi dead in the eye. For some reason, something in the detective's eyes- it... It gave him reassurance... like.... he could trust him.....

"... idiot." Shinichi scoffed, grabbing a sandwich for himself.

"H-hey!! What's that supposed to mean?!" he exclaimed.

"Means you're stupid." He tore off a bite and shoved it in his mouth.

"Mph-!!"

Kaito was still perturbed and confused as fuck on what was happening, but- he ate the food anyway. After he swallowed, he mumbled, "Yeah, well, you're not any better...."

"Tch!" He tore another bite for himself.

Kaito took a deep breath. Now that he had finally calmed down and had a clear mind, he was able to easily free himself from the detective's makeshift rope that tied him to the bed. He rubbed his wrists and sat up.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I'm heading back upstairs now."

He jumped him, pushing him down, straddling him, and tying him up again, this time with a more convoluted knot. "Getting your senses together, huh..."

"H-HEY!!??!?"

"Don't try to escape. I'll just tie you up again." He told him firmly. "Where would you go, anyway?"

Kaito scoffed. "I have plenty of other hideouts besides here, you know. I have plenty of places to hide."

That was a lie. He only had one other place, and that was his own house. But there was no way in hell he would go there; not right now, not while he was with Meitantei and Nakamori keibu was.... yeah.....

He just couldn't....

"And then what?" Shinichi glared. |Are you so eager to taste everyone's blood?? You'll get an STD at this rate.|

"Hmph..."

"A-and then... And then I'd fix my problem- duh!"

Yeah, like that was gonna be easy.

"This is why you're an idiot. Just let me help you!!" He leaned down slightly in emphasis, and his body shifted so that he was sitting directly over his hips.

Whoops, there goes the red face again.

"I told you, I can't!!" he stuttered. 'I would've already if I could!!' he thought.

"I know. Don't say such stupid, obvious lies." He scowled. "Detective, remember?"

"I'm not lying, Meitantei!" He was struggling to get out again. He was not comfortable with the situation he was in at the moment.

Shinichi, focused on his monologue, didn't seem to hear. "You did lie, you told me you'd solve it on your own. But you can't, so stop it and just let me help!!"

"LOOK, IF I COULD ASK FOR YOUR HELP, I WOULD'VE DONE SO ALREADY, OKAY?!?!?"

"... Then, don't ask for it. Just accept it." He moved Kaito's bangs out of his face, staring suddenly. He'd forgotten all about it, but... Now, he had a chance to study Kid's face....

Kaito tensed for a moment as the detective grew closer. He stared back at him, his eyes showing his true emotions behind his poker face that he tried oh so desperately to wear: he was scared and frightened. It took him a second to realize what Kudou was doing, and when he did, he kneed the boy in the stomach.

"Get off of me already!!" he cried.

He curled up on his side, wheezing for breath. "D-Damn...."

|...he's really scared....| 

He sat up, looking at him. "... You need more blood, don't you.... And... you're scared of it...."

"What?! No, I told you, I'm fine! Sure, I don't like this, but I can handle myself!"

Shinichi slowly started unbandaging his left arm, keeping an eye on him. "I won't ask you to trust me, exactly, but be more honest with me." He took the knife from his pocket.

"Tantei kun, please, don't...!" he pleaded.

The detective didn't have any reason to do this. It wasn't fair on him to have to hurt himself for his sake. It wasn't FAIR!

He gave him a reassuring smile and lightly reopened one of his cuts, pressing it immediately to his protesting mouth.

Kaito spat it out in disgust. "Kudou kun, I need it on me, not IN me!!!" he snapped.

"... Huh? How's that meant to work?" He pouted.

"I don't fucking know! I'm not the one who created the cu-!!!"

The hands gripped on his throat tightly, squeezing with all their strength. Kaito squirmed and cried out in protest, gasping for air as he tried to move his hands to pull away the invisible force that pressed down on his neck.

Shinichi's hands felt over his neck quickly, searching for a way to help him. "Hey, just hang on!!" But he couldn't feel anything. How could he? It was a curse; magic was choking the magician.

Just as Kaito's struggles began to weaken, the hold on his neck loosened and the teen gasped for air like a fish out of water. He was shaking terribly and extremely fatigued. 

"I don't want to deal with this anymore.... I didn't even do anything...." he mumbled, lazily looking up to the ceiling.

"Tch.... you stole a lot." He unbuttoned Kaito's shirt and then cut himself deeper, smearing his blood over his exposed chest. "And from what Hakuba says, you're no innocent. Though that’s on a different scale than this.... in any case, it's obvious you won't get to talk about it, so stop trying. Baka."

Kaito didn't look away from the ceiling. He tensed slightly at the sudden touch on his chest, but loosened when he realized it was just the detective.

". . . I'm sorry, Meitantei," he mumbled softly.

  
  


".... you don't deserve this. So... where is my phone? I can call in some help, some favors. We'll catch the witch, whatever has to be done."

Kaito let out a dry laugh. "It... it's not that... simple...." he sighed.

He knew Akako. This was the girl who was able to manipulate Nakamori-keibu with her magic. The girl who had every guy around her fingertips. If he were to break this curse, he was going to either have to oblige to her commands or find some sort of loophole out of this mess. And neither option was going to be easy.

".... you underestimate my friends, I think....." Shinichi had a gleam of confidence in his eyes. He got up off the bed, taking the dirty bandage with him.

". . . maybe. . . "


	7. Nowhere to hide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kid is really starting to feel he can't catch a break.

Kaito fell asleep, quietly snoozing on the bed with steady, rhythmic breathing.

"... tch, what a baby..." Shinichi mumbled, returning with a freshly bandaged arm. He laid down on the bed, exhausted, and fell asleep beside him… well, slightly on top of him… To keep him from escaping!!

The two slept through the night, and the next morning, Kaito had not awoken before the great detective. But, the thief was sweating and burning up slightly. He seemed uncomfortable in his sleep.

Shinichi woke up with a sigh. |... I guess he needs more....| He got out his knife, thinking for a moment before nicking his arm near his elbow and resting it on his chest.

It hurt. He couldn't lie about that. Every cut up to and including now... and how long would he have to keep doing this?

After some time, the thief had calmed down. Shortly after, his eyes blinked open lazily. 

|W-what.... where...-?!|

He snapped his eyes open and pulled on his hands. He remembered last night.

".... morning." Shinichi came in with a cup of coffee, sitting next to him and sipping it. He had more bandages on his arm.

Kaito deadpanned, staring at the detective as he walked in.

"How did it come to this?" Kaito asked, somewhat glaring at Kudou, "I thought I was the one who kidnapped you, not the other way around?"

"Hmph." He glared at him. "I told you I wouldn't let you hurt anyone. I still want to know where all that blood came from."

The thief pouted, looking over to the side. "I.... don't want to talk about that...." he mumbled.

|I hated every moment of it....| he thought, trying his hardest to not recollect those memories, |It's not like I wanted to do any of this....|

"No, I don't suppose you would." He sipped his coffee again. "Still, you should."

Kaito squeezed his eyes tight. He was trying to hard to block out those memories, but their faces... the screams....

|It hurts....

Please.....|

Kaito snapped open his eyes and looked at Kudou. He saw the boy was wearing fresh bandages. He must've dug though the house while he was asleep. Stupid snoop....

"Have.... you been cutting yourself....?" he asked, wearing his poker face. 

"You got really hot in your sleep," He explained calmly. His hand gently covered his forehead, feeling his temperature.

Kaito softened slightly as Kudou's hand touched his forehead. It.. felt nice.

"I guess I slept longer than I would've normally," he mumbled.

"Mm. I'm not surprised..." He brushed his bangs out of his eyes. ".... You're going to need some therapy after this. It's... a lot..."

The teenager scoffed. "Yeah, won't we both?" he agreed. He then looked up at his hands and shifted them around a little.

"At any rate, do you think you could let me out of these? I'm starting to lose feeling in my hands." he asked.

"I don't know. What are you going to do?" He asked quietly.

"Well, first, I'd take a shower. I'm all sweaty and covered in blood," Kaito replied, stating it like it was obvious.

"... You know what I mean." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to try to lock me up again?"

Kaito looked at Kudou long and hard. After a solid minute, the thief sighed.

"You aren't really going to give me a choice in the matter, are you?" he asked.

"... I'm going to help you. Take care of you. So you just have to let me..." He promised.

A small smirk. "Even as a small detective, you always did care about others before yourself."

"I'll untie you if you won't restrain me or lock me in... do we have an agreement? "

"All right." 

He untied him. Kaito sat up, rubbing his hands and wrists. It felt good to be out of the restraint. He hopped out of bed and went straight to the shower, just as he said he would. He made sure to lock the door behind him so that the snoopy detective couldn't follow him in. 

After his shower he walked out and got changed, then proceeded to find where the detective was.

Shinichi was in the kitchen, making them both some lunch. "Yo...." He waved a spoon, smiling slightly. "Better?"

The thief combed his hair with his hand as he walked into the kitchen. "Yeah, I guess," he replied. 

Then the smell of the food wafted into his nose.

It smelled good.

Kaito walked over to the little island in the kitchen and leaned onto it, watching the detective cook. "So, Meitantei, how are you planning on helping me with little to no information to work on?" he asked.

"Well, to start, by gathering more information. Who can I talk to that might know something?" He handed him a bowl of curry.

Kaito took a spoon and scooped a bit of the food into his mouth. The smell did not lie to him, it was good.

"Well, there's me or A- a-ack--!!" he started to choke on his food. He pounded his chest twice before his throat cleared. Reminder: don't talk about the curse when you're eating. Got it.

"-T-the witch..." he finished, taking a deep breath, "But I doubt you're gonna get info out of either of us so...."

"Mm... Is there someone else who knows the witch?" He asked, watching him worriedly.

Kaito thought about the question for a moment. The problem with Akako is that she was involved with both his lives as Kaito Kuroba and Kaitou Kid. If he were to give any info that would help without almost killing himself would involve giving the detective some information about his identity. He was going to have to be very careful about what he said.

After thinking it over Kaito decided that not getting rid of this curse was worse than the detective finding out his true identity. But he wasn't gonna make it easy on the teen.

"There is one guy," he replied, taking another bite of the curry.

"Yeah? Who is it?" He sat on the counter, watching him.

"He's another one of you little detectives; annoying and bothersome," he answered, another bite shoved into his mouth.

".... Hakuba?" He guessed, eyes widening.

Kaito shrugged, another bite of food. He didn't even try to hide a sly smirk.

"... hm. I need my phone back." He ate a bite, mind going a million miles per hour.

"Surprised you haven't found it yet. It's not like I hid it anywhere or anything," he replied back. In all honesty, he had almost forgotten he put the detective's phone in his bedroom. He hid a shutter at the thought of how he was going to have to deep clean that room later. Or better yet, burn it down to the ground.

".... You need to clean out all this blood. I'll give you more blood once you've made some progress."

Kaito snapped his gaze at the detective. Again. He did it again. How? How was the detective replying to him like he could read his thoughts? Was he just that good at his job? Was his poker face breaking? No, it couldn't be that. He squinted. He would have to figure it out later. 

Kid scooped the last of the curry into this mouth and stood up.

"I think I'd rather light a match to this place, thank you very much," he said, walking to the entrance of the house to grab his coat. He grabbed a second coat and walked back into the kitchen. He chucked it at the detective and said, "Come on, you're coming too."

"No arson," he said firmly. ".... just because I'm around murders all the time doesn't mean I like it. If you want me to stay with you, you've got to clean that up."

"Oh calm down, I was joking," he rolled his eyes, "We're just going to the store. I don't have enough cleaning supplies here."

"Hmph." He put the coat on. "Fine."

Kaito walked over to a drawer and pulled out a pair of glasses. "One second," he said and went to the bathroom. He went to put on some makeup to make his face look slightly different and then slipped on the glasses. 

|There. No Kuroba Kaito will be found by our detective today.| Kaito chuckled slightly.

He came back out and found Shinichi at the door. "Ready to go? It's not that far of a walk," he said.

Shinichi blinked. "... Why disguise yourself?" He asked him.

Kaito squinted and pointed at the teen. "Look. Don't judge me. I'm not just giving you a free pass on my identity," he stated.

"I already saw your face anyway, When you were sleeping," he shrugged. "It's not like I've divined your identity from that."

"You-?!?!!? Breach of privacy!!!" Kaito stammered. What a snoopy jerk!!!

"I couldn't exactly avoid it," he scoffed. "You're the one who kidnapped me in the first place."

Kaito turned around and crossed his arms. He pouted as he said, "And I thought we were friends! I see how it is!" He overdramatically opened the door and stormed out, making sure he didn't go too far from the house entrance.

"I'd say we're pretty good friends, given the circumstances!!" He followed him out, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know, Meitantei! How do a detective and a thief become friends?" Kaito laughed.

"By kidnapping each other, apparently!" He cracked a smile.

As the two made their way to the store, Kaito was a bit wary about which way they went. He knew they were close to his actual house and from the many calls and texts he was receiving, he knew Aoko would be looking for him.

Hopefully the detective wouldn't notice. He knew Kudou would be on his ass if he did.

"...." Shinichi knew he was wary, but he didn't know why.

That is, until a small young woman jumped Kaito from behind and hit him over the head, asking him, "BAKAITOOO!! Where have you been?? Why are you wearing makeup? You can't hide from me, baaaka!!!"


	8. oh no

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oops

|AOKO!?!?!?|

Kaito panicked. This was EXACTLY what he was trying to avoid!! He glanced between his childhood friend and the detective before grabbing Aoko's arm and pulling her close.

"Aoko, please, I'll talk to you later. But right now, I really need you to leave," he whispered, taking glances towards Kudou to make sure he didn't try to listen in.

"Are you on a secret date??? BAKA!!" She slapped him over the head again. "You should've told me!!! This is very unromantic, you know?? You can do better, COME ON!! Gaaaah, now I'll have to set you up with something better..." She got out her phone, typing something quickly.

"No no no!! It's nothing like that!!" He stammered, his face turning slightly pink in the face. He tried to push her phone away from her as he continued.

"Please, this is really important, just go home and take care of your dad," he said.

"Eeeeh?? Was I wrong?" She pouted. "But I thought that's why you didn't come back last night!!"

Kaito gave a glance to Shinichi once more as he said, "No... I.... had other problems to deal with."

"Mmm!! You didn't used to keep so much from me!!" She finally released him to put her hands on her hips. Shinichi looked thoughtful, and a bit amused.

"Aoko...." Kaito gave her a sad look. He placed his hands on her shoulders and positioned her so that they were looking each other in the eye.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I can't really explain anything at the moment. When I can, I'll tell you everything, okay?" He asked.

"Hmph!! You'd better!!" She looked worried, but not really angry. "But I bet the makeup is for your boyfriend anyway. You look silly!!"

Again with the red face.

"H-he's not my boyfriend!!! Jeez, Ahouko!!" He stammered.

"Baaakaito!! You obviously like him!!!"

"That's not true!!"

"It obviously is!! You are standing all close to him!! Baka!!"

Then she turned to Shinichi, grabbing him by the tie. |He looks so much like Kaito!!| "You'd better hurry up and confess to him!!"

"..... Yeah, uh... Okay.... I'll... get to work on that..." |So much like Ran...|

Kaito's face went so red, one would think that he was going to pass out. "Don't encourage her!!!!" he yelled.

"Aah.... sorry...." Shinichi's face was steaming too.

"Bakaito!! Take him on a better date next time!! Ahou!!" She stormed off, also blushing.

Kaito covered up his face in embarrassment. He tried to calm himself down, but for some reason, he was having a hard time with it than normal. Aaah, stupid Ahouko with her stupid ideas!!

"A-a-anyway... L-let's just... just head on to the convenience store, shall we...?" he asked quietly, not looking at Kudou at all.

"... mhm...."

Shinichi's mind was running wild.... it was probably for the best, he decided, not to say anything.

Especially considering how he'd thought of Kid for so long....

|Get a hold of yourself!!| He scolded himself.

  
  


After a bit of walking, the two made it to the store. They managed to get a lot of cleaning supplies (in which the clerks who checked them out made a comment about how the two of them must've partied at their parents' house; they both denied it) and headed back. 

Soon enough, they made it back to the house. Kaito threw the bags onto the dining table and collapsed into a chair. 

"Aughhh! Do I HAVE to clean?!" he whined.

"Yes," Shinichi told him stubbornly. "Do it. Right now. Or, you can sit here and explain to me how it got all bloody in the first place."

Kaito fidgeted. He'd rather do neither. After a moment of silence, Kaito suddenly stood up and walked off towards the bedroom, the bags of cleaning supplies. He had locked the door behind him so the detective couldn't follow him in.

"Tch...."

But Shinichi planned to have a comforting surprise for him. After all, it couldn't be very pleasant...

  
  


The house had grown silent for who knows how long. Suddenly, Shinichi could hear a loud thud and screaming coming from a part of the house. 

Clearly coming from the bedroom Kaito was cleaning.

Shinichi tore over to that side of the house, trying desperately to get the locked door open. "Kid?! KID?!"

Another loud thud.

It sounded like furniture falling over.

Shinichi left and came back with the first heavy object he could find. He broke the handle clean off the door and rushed inside. "KID-!!!"

The entire room was a mess, aside from the blood.

All the furniture was scattered all over the floor. Clothes and other items lay ripped apart all over. In the middle of the room sat Kid, kneeling on the floor. His back was facing the detective, but from what he could see, the thief was shaking terribly. He was staring into his hands, which were covered with blood.

Shinichi went to him slowly. "Kid..." He spoke in a soothing tone. "It's okay.... come back to me...." He slowly laid a hand on his shoulder.

Kaito didn't respond to Shinichi's voice, but when physical contact was made-

The thief whipped around, pushing away whoever it was that had came near him. His eyes were wild and spastic, but dull and distant, almost as if he wasn't seeing the same thing that the detective was.

He was frightened and scared.

He needed to get out.

He gently pulled him to his feet, cupping his hands around his eyes so that he couldn't see much of anything besides Shinichi's face. Slowly, slowly he began to lead him out of the room, carefully walking backwards.

Kaito was trying to resist; he tried to look away, but the force was too strong. He was being pulled- where? Where was he...? Why does everything hurt so much? He began to shake more, his fists now so tight he broke skin.

"It's okay... it's just us here...." Gently, carefully, out the door, into the cleaner room, onto the clean couch, gently, gently, pushing him to sit, sitting on his lap, wrapping his arms around him comfortingly while carefully opening the knife -

|I guess he needs blood again... I hope this helps him.... Kid, this is a really weird thing that's happened to you....|

He was being moved. This touch, this voice- it was nice and soft.... Kaito started to struggle less and less, being lead out to the couch. He was shifted to sit down and-

_ Knife. _

Then everything was a blur.

Kaito suddenly lunged at Kudou, grabbing the knife and pinning the detective to the couch. His eyes were wide and sporadic, as well as his breathing. His grip on Kudou's wrist was tight, and his blood dripped onto the other teen's wrist. Without hesitating, he slid the knife down Kudou's arm, going from just below the elbow to just above the wrist.

He cried out in pain and surprise, struggling to get back up, to fight, to stop him from bleeding him out, but Kid had much stronger hands than he did, he couldn't move away at all. "Kid..." He realized that it was tears choking him in his throat and burning at his eyes. 

Why did this hurt so much? He knew it wasn't him, he knew that, and it wasn't that much worse than all the other injuries... well, maybe a little worse, but it hadn't been that bad.... he had been able to keep his dignity, somehow, up to now, so why was this just too much?

Kaito made the knife disappear into his sleeve. He reached over with his free hand to the wound he had created on the detective and smeared as much of the blood as his hand could pick up. He then moved his hand towards the opposite side of his face and smeared it down his cheek to his neck. He slowly lowered his head to rest on Shinichi's chest. The thief pulled out his knife. One cut; one to rip apart the detective's clothes. Another cut; one down the teen's side. This one was deeper than the one on Kudou's arm, but not by much. This time, the blood went all over Kaito's arm; smothering it completely.

Kaito shivered.

Something felt wrong.

He blinked, his eyes readjusting. W-what happened...? He was... on the couch...? But wasn't he-

Then it clicked.

|Oh, God. Kudou.|

He lifted himself off Kudou's chest to get a good look at him. He dropped the knife and let go of the detective's wrist immediately.

|God, no, please,  _ why _ -|

Shinichi's tearstained face contorted in pain as Kaito cut him once again.

|Why.......|

He stared up at him, frozen, unable to move. It hurt. It hurt. Why couldn't he even fight anymore?

Everything was spinning. The light hurt his eyes. His wrist fell to his chest, unresisting. He couldn't look any more. Too much pain, on him, in his body, on Kaito's face -

".... Ki... d...."

"T-tantei-!" Kaito started to panic. |No- nononono!!! NO! I don’t - I didn't want this at all!! What was I thinking?!?!|

"Tantei kun, please, look at me! I'm sorry, please!!"

With no response from Shinichi, he quickly got up and grabbed his medical supplies. Dammit, he refused to let Kudou pass out, much less die. He started with the wound on the side- it seemed to be the worst of the two.

"Tantei, please say something, I need you to keep awake until I patch you up," he said, his voice shaking. He was trying his hardest to not allow the tears in his eyes to pour out.

".... w.... why... I was already going to, so.... why...." He breathed slow. and shallow, trying to focus on staying awake. The tears were hot on his face. He couldn't seem to stop. He turned his face away in shame. |... how could I have been so careless.... I shouldn't have left him alone in there in the first place....|

"I-I don't know..." he whispered. Once he had finished wiping off the blood as much as he could, he began to clean it. He told Kudou that it might sting a bit as he poured the peroxide onto the wound. He let the peroxide sit for a second, then wiped it off and began to wrap it with some gauze.

"I-I'm sorry...." he mumbled as he wrapped the gauze around the teen's chest.

Shinichi couldn't hold back a whimper - it didn't sting, it burned, and he couldn't help but struggle weakly against it. He was barely awake, the darkness nearly filling his vision.

Kaito mumbled more apologies as he finished the wrapping. 

"I-I have to clean your arm too... I'm sorry, this is going to sting as well," he said quietly. He gently grabbed the teen's arm and repeated the procedure, making sure to be extremely gentle with the detective.

Shinichi's eyes closed tightly. He was gritting his teeth. A sob escaped him anyway - he really couldn't help it. He really couldn't. |Kid.... why can't we go back to how it was.... why did this happen.....|

Kaito stared at the detective's arm once he had finished wrapping up his wound. The tears he had been holding back finally began to pour out like a broken dam. He couldn't hold them back anymore.

He shifted so that Kudou's hand rested on Kaito's head. He refused to move, not even for a second.

It wasn't fair.

He said he didn't want Kudou involved.

It was all his fault.

His detective didn't deserve any of this.

It was all his fault.


	9. Problematic Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Kudo You've Got To Be Fucking Kidding Me" - Hakuba

It was all his fault.

A gentle, tired hand rested on top of his head.

Shinichi had relaxed, closing his eyes. |...... as long as it's only me.... don't worry.... I'm still going to fix this for you....|

After what felt like years, Kaito began to drift off. He slowly lowered his head onto Kudou's chest, falling asleep.

"... Kid.... get up..." Shinichi grumbled when he woke up hours later.

"Mmmn.... Five more minutes...." Kaito mumbled, half asleep. He was too comfortable... He was laying on a really soft pillow, why on Earth would he move??

"You're hurting me," he grumbled, trying weakly to shove him off.

Huh? He was hurting the detective? But-

Oh.

OH.

Kaito's eyes snapped open as he quickly lifted himself off the other teenager.

"S-sorry!" he managed to spit out.

"Mmph. Barou." He sat up carefully, wincing. Nothing short of paralyzation would keep him from his coffee.

"H-hey! Hey! You should rest!" Kaito said, trying to carefully push Kudou back down onto the couch.

"Get off of me!" He grumbled. "I need coffee!"

"You need rest!!" He insisted, keeping him down.

"Look, if you're going to insist on helping me, you're going to let me take care of you. Alright??"

".... tch!! Fine!!" Shinichi was blushing a little. "Then, get me some coffee and something to eat!!"

Kaito stood up and scrunched up his face. He crossed his arms across his chest.

"How do you ask nicely?" he asked.

"Who is the one making me stay here instead of doing it myself???"

"Whose house is this???"

"Who kidnapped me to bring me here?!!?!"

"Who kidnapped me back?!?!?!"

"Well, I could've just left you locked in!!!"

"Yeah, but then you would've been the one at fault for me dying, now wouldn't you?"

"I could've sent someone else in to deal with it."

"Then why didn't you??"

"Because - !!!"

|Because it's a mystery, because I couldn't trust anyone else with you, because I couldn't forgive myself if I did, because I think I might have fallen for you - |

".. Because I didn't want to, obviously!! Don't make me change my mind, barou!!!”

Kaito huffed, walking out of the room. Soon enough, Shinichi could hear something sizzling in the kitchen.

"Hmph!!" He laid back, resting. "Better be a damn good breakfast...."

It took awhile for Kaito to come back out of the kitchen. He seemed to have calmed down while he was cooking, since he came out with a slight smile.

He walked over and reached out a hand to the detective.

"Want me to help you up?" He asked.

He took his hand, blushing again and not really answering. "What's for breakfast..?"

Kaito pouted. "Still grumpy, huh? Well, Mr. Grumpy Pants, I made pancakes and bacon with some toast on the side. I also poured us some orange juice because ya gotta wake up bright and happy!" He smiled happily.

"If there's no coffee, I'm going to kill you," he informed him calmly, going into the kitchen (in a slightly better mood).

Low and behold, Kaito had set up the dining table already! Two plates full of food and-

Orange juice. Just as he said.

But one plate had an extra cup next to it. A steaming coffee cup.

Kaito sat down at the other plate and patiently waited for Shinichi.

He sat down, rather eagerly taking a drink. It was good, and he found himself humming contentedly.

Kaito smiled softly as he watched Shinichi for a moment before he dug into his breakfast.

".... You cook for yourself, too?" He asked after he'd had a few bites. That was his way of saying it was good.

"Yeah, well, I can only live off of Aoko's cooking for so long," he stated absentmindedly, taking a bite of a piece of bacon.

"Aoko.... is that the one who was talking to you earlier?" He would never miss a detail like that, after all.

Kaito's face immediately scrunched up. Of course he said that. But he heard her name, so he can't really lie out of that.

"Yeah.... She's a rowdy one, isn’t she?" He chuckled.

"Mhm.. does she know you're Kid?" He asked thoughtfully.

"Nope. And I plan to keep it that way for as long as I can."

He twirled his fork in between his fingers as he shoved his toast in his mouth.

"Mhm...." He sipped his coffee, thinking. "........ Do you love her?”

Kaito would've taken a spit take had he been drinking his orange juice. Instead, he did the next best thing; the toast almost flew across the table.

"W-what?!? What made you ask that??" He asked, flustered.

"... Just wondering," he shrugged.

Kaito straightened, trying to deny the fact that once again, his face was turning red.

"Yeah, well what about you? Don't you have a girlfriend waiting for you at home? She's probably worried about you," he retorted back.

"My 'girlfriend' has a girlfriend," He laughed. "And she's used to me disappearing, at this point."

"Well, that's not healthy," he stated, "Disappearing all the time." Another bite of pancake.

"Can't very well help it.... I never would have if I could." He sighed.

". . . Yeah, I know what you mean. . . "

Silence fell upon the table.

"..... She's cute though. That girl. Is she our age?"

Kaito blinked. He was surprised the usually serious detective asked such a question. 

"Uh, yes," he answered simply.

"Hmmm...." 

|Then... she perfectly matches the description Hakuba.........|

".... Kuroba?"

Kaito tried his best not to flinch. No. No, he couldn't-

There was just-

Hakuba.

|That bastard!!!| he thought, practically seething. But he managed to keep himself cool as he replied, "Who? Someone you know?"

"... I think so..." He folded his fingers, staring at him piercingly. "Kuroba Kaito."

Poker face. Poker face.

"You know, now that I hear that, I believe I've heard that other detective, Hakuba, say that name a few times before," he stated, another bite of bacon.

".... I'll have to tell him he was right." Shinichi smirked.

"Hm? Right about what?"

|Fuck, I swear to God-|

"You're Kuroba Kaito." He grinned. "That's who Aoko, who doesn't know you're Kid, was talking to."

Kaito pointed his fork at Kudou and said, "Sorry to disappoint you, but you're wrong. I simply know the girl from my heists."

"Liar. You said she doesn't know you're Kid." He grinned, leaning back in his seat.

"She doesn't. I have disguised as her a few times. She's the daughter of the lovely Nakmori keibu, after all~" he stated, spinning his fork around.

"Then how could she know you?" He rolled his eyes. "You can't deny it anymore."

"Hey," he pouted, "She simply mistook me for someone else and I played along with it. What's wrong with that?"

"That's not what you said before. Quit trying to escape it, it's too late."

|Fucking son of a-|

Suddenly, a loud ringing noise startled the thief. He dropped his fork, the silverware making a loud clang as it fell onto the table. Kaito scrambled to grab his phone, almost glad something came up to interrupt this interrogation.

It was Akako.

|Fuck.|

He abruptly stood from his chair and walked out of the room. He answered the phone, but kept his voice quiet and his hand covering the receiver so that Shinichi would have a harder time hearing what he was saying.

Shinichi followed him, listening in from around the corner. |... who is it.... maybe the witch?|

All Shinichi could hear were hushed whispers for a minute or two before-

"NO, YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?!?!"

Silence.

"Look, is there any way for me to just-"

Silence.

"Come on, Ak-"

Silence.

Kaito ended the call and sighed. Not the most ideal conversation but, whatever. He turned around abruptly to see Shinichi standing around the corner. 

"Tantei kun?!?! What- would you stop that?!" he yelled, flicking the teen's forehead.

"Ow!! No, I won't!! Who was that??" He snapped.

"No one," he said. He walked over to the bedroom. As he reached for the door handle, he hesitated. His hand was shaking. Was he really this scared of this room? It wasn't the room he was scared of- it was the memories.

He put a hand on his shoulder. "... Give me your phone and I'll clean that room for you."

Kaito blinked. 

"Why would I give you my phone?" he asked, squinting.

"Is it a trade or not? You'll get it back eventually."

The thief thought about it for a moment. He knew the detective would immediately snoop through his phone, there was no denying that. But he already figured out his identity, as much as he was denying it. He glanced at the door next to him-

He tensed up.

". . . Okay, here...." he said quietly, holding out his phone.

He took it, nodding. "Go clean up breakfast, then. Leave my coffee."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Yes, mom," he said sarcastically, walking back to the dining room to clean up.

He went inside the bedroom, closing the door behind him and looking through Kaito's phone. He called back the last number.

The phone rang three times before a click was sounded.

"What is it now, Kuroba? I already told you my answer; it's not changing."

It was a lady on the other end. Her voice was smooth, yet cold at the same time. She sounded older than her age, probably around her early 20's.

"This is Kudo Shinichi." He grinned wildly. Proof!!!

"Did you do this thing to him?"

Silence for a moment.

"Oh! So he did accept your help, now did he?" she slyly responded with. Shinichi could  _ hear  _ her smile grow larger. "Well, then, doesn't this make my situation harder, huh?"

"He didn't. I'm just being a detective." He accepted that as confirmation. "You're trying to make him do something, right? What is it?"

"Well, Mr. Detective, I'm not just going to give you the answer. You have to play by the rules~! How about you start by asking your good friend about where he's supposed to go? Don't worry, I'll make sure his little friends don't hurt him while you ask, OHOHOHOHOHO!!"

A click, followed by a dial tone.

|What an annoying laugh.... little friends?|

Shinichi sighed, starting to tear down the wallpaper and searching for Hakuba's number in his contacts.

He eventually found it under "Detective Bastard".

He called, heart beating fast. |What to do now....|

He picked up. "Yes, Kuroba? What do you wish to bother me about today?"

"Hakuba!! This is Kid's phone!!" Shinichi whispered excitedly. "You were right, I've confirmed it!!"

"Oh."

On the other end of the line, Hakuba sat in his chair at his house. Normally, he would be quite excited to hear such news, but after hearing about the attack the other day at the latest Kid heist-....

"So, how did you obtain his phone?" he asked.

"Well, after the heist he kidnapped me, and I'm living with him right now at some kind of hideout. Listen - there's someone he refers to as a witch. She's the one forcing him to hurt people. Do you know who that is??"

Hakuba blinked. What? Kudou kun was living with Kuroba?? Willingly??

And a witch...? He didn't believe in magic, not that kind of magic anyway. Nor did he know anyone who referred to themselves as a witch.

"No, I don't believe so, why do you ask?" he asked.

"Shit.... well, who else does he talk to?? We met Aoko already, it's not her..." He heard his fear slipping into his voice. |Before he's completely insane, before he kills me in another blank eyed spell, please, please, please...|

"Well, there are a lot of girls that he talks to at school, but out of ones that stand out to me, I guess it would be Miss Akako," Hakuba replied. Though, a part of him didn't want to believe it. Akako? Making Kuroba hurt people?

"Akako, that HAS to be it!!! Hakuba, I.. I don't understand what she's doing, but she can strangle him without being in the room, and he... He has to have blood on his skin at regular intervals. Even while he's asleep, if he doesn't, he'll die.... I don't know what this is, maybe some kind of drug or hypnosis, but.... try to find something out, and.... be careful.... please...."

"Okay, Kudou kun, calm down. Take a deep breath." He had never heard the detective so frantic before. What was going on over there? Whatever it was, it was serious and scaring him.

"Alright, I'll try to look into it as much as I can. You stay safe as well. I don't want you dying because of some dumb mistake Kuroba made," he said, his tone serious.

"..... If something happens, I need you to understand - it's not his fault. Do you hear me? I need you to understand that."

A deep breath. Followed by a bit of silence.

"Yes, I understand, Kudou kun."

"... okay. I... am hurt, a little, but I did that to myself. I don't want him blamed for any more than he's done..."

"Kudou kun?!" An audible gasp could be heard on the other end.

".... It's not what you think, but.... I'm not even sure I believe what happened, myself...."

"Please, I ask you to stay safe-!"

A loud bang, like the sound of a large pan hitting the floor, could be heard from Kudou's end of the line.

"What was that?"

"I have to go, sorry!!" He hung up, stuffing the phone in his pocket and hurrying to Kaito. "Ohi!!"

Kaito was leaning against the kitchen counter, clutching his head. He was shaking slightly and his face was turning a shade of pink. There was a pan on the floor with some food scattered from it.

"I'm here..." He grabbed a knife from the holder. "Hey..."

"N-no... I-I'm fine...." Kaito mumbled, trying to pull himself away from the other teen.

He tore his bandages away, wincing. "Take your shirt off."

"W-what??!" Kaito's face was turning redder. He unconsciously grabbed the bottom of his shirt. "I'm not-! No, that's indecent!"

"Hurry up. Or I'll just wipe it on your face." He found a small place that hadn't been cut yet and drew a bloody line with the knife.


	10. Brief Debriefing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> idk why this one is so short lol sorry

Kaito mumbled some choice words as he lifted up his shirt. He fumbled with it since he was still shaking and, well, other reasons he couldn't quite explain, but he managed to take it off. The room was slightly cold, causing him to shiver slightly as the cold air touched his bare skin.

He rested his hand on his shoulder, letting his blood drip slowly down his chest. ".... idiot.... you should've called me...."

Kaito closed his eyes, allowing himself to feel the blood flow down his bare chest. Now matter how many times it happened, he'll never get used to it; the smell, the feel, it was sickening.

"And why would I do that, knowing you were just going to hurt yourself...." he mumbled back.

"And what if you lost control again, and hurt me yourself?" He glared at him.

Kaito flinched, squeezing his eyes tight. Vague images of last night flashed through his mind's eye. Another shiver.

"Is that what you want? Or will you call me before it comes to that?" He asked, a little more gently.

The thief's head lowered slightly, allowing his hair to cover his eyes. It took him a moment to answer, but when he did, it was in a soft whisper.

"Okay...." he replied.

He moved his hand up, cupping his face gently. "You're going to get out of this... just work with me until then...."

Kaito allowed the detective to lift his head. He opened his eyes, a sad, pained expression on his face. His hand shifted, raised up to touch Shinichi's hand. He held it tight, taking in the warmth it produced. 

". . . Okay. . . Okay . . ." was all he could manage to spit out.

His other hand cupped his face as well, the look on his face strong and reassuring. He tried out Kid's real name, just to taste it. "... Kuroba...."

Kaito cracked a smile. "Didn't I tell you? That's not my name."

".... I called that woman.... she told me to ask you where you're supposed to go..." He removed his hands, wrapping up his cuts again.

"Of course you did," Kaito sighed, feeling much better. He looked down to his chest. 'Augh, now my chest is full of blood,' he squinted. He could just smell the metallic scent of iron- ack!

"Figures that's what you wanted my phone for...."

"Among other things. So, where is it that she wants you to go?"

Kaito walked over to the kitchen sink and ran a small dish towel under it, getting it soaked.

"You're pretty familiar with it; Tropical Land."

"... What... Why Tropical Land??" He blinked, shuddering.

Kaito shrugged. "Because there's someth-!!!!"

They grabbed onto his neck HARD. Kaito collapsed onto his knees, grabbing at his neck. He tried to gasp for air, but nothing would go through.

"Hey - HEY!! She said they wouldn't do this!!!" Shinichi caught him, shouting at.. he didn't know what.

Kaito swore he could hear snickering off in the distance as he desperately gasped for air. Just as his consciousness was fading he realized; every slip up he made, they would choke him longer and harder until he could no longer speak.

As soon as his limbs gave, the grip around his neck loosened, and Kaito's body immediately sucked in as much air as it could, causing him to cough and sputter. He tried to open his eyes, but most of his vision was black or too blurry to make anything out. His head was spinning, spinning too fast.

Shinichi couldn't do anything but hold him and pray. He hated it. |why would anyone do this........ I don't understand.......|

Kaito tried to stay conscious, but his brain just wouldn't let him. His head rolled to the side as he passed out, his breathing returning to normal.

He held him close, shaking. |... That was terrifying... Kaito.... are you really okay...?|

Kaito shivered slightly in his sleep. He was still shirtless and cold and bloody.

He picked him up, gently carrying him to the couch and covering him in a blanket. |..... my fault, isn't it..... sorry, Kid....... Kuroba.....|

After a short period of time, Kaito's eyes blinked open.

"Hm... Am I on the couch...?" he mumbled aloud, not really moving. He was actually quite comfortable where he lay.

"Yeah." Shinichi was sitting beside him, still going through his phone. He felt his forehead gently. "... Feeling okay?"

Kaito squinted. "No. You're going though my phone again. Don't you have any sense of privacy??"

"I threw the wallpaper out back and burned it. And the carpets have been rolled up and put in the garbage. Unsalvageable. I suggest we get some heavy duty paint to cover the walls with next time. And some kind of flooring that's easier to clean?" 

  
  


Shinichi was sweaty, dusty, and his cuts had reopened and bled through the bandages.

Kaito sat up, looking at the teen with worry. "You need to take a shower, and get your wounds cleaned up. Come on!" He swung his blanket off himself and abruptly stood up. It was a terrible idea; his vision blacked out for a moment and he stumbled backwards onto the couch.

"Ohi!!" He watched him collapse back onto the pillows. "... idiot."

"oh.... That... was not fun..." he mumbled, grabbing at his head. He tried to calm down and allow his head to stop spinning, but he was too worried about Kudou.

"... Tch.... I'm taking a break. Then a shower. You need to rest." He smiled.(edited)

Kaito pouted. "And you need to not snoop through my phone."

"We had an agreement, didn't we?"

"I said I would give you my phone, I never agreed to allow you to snoop through it."

"Pfft." He treated that statement as the ridiculous thing it was. Of course he was going to look through it.

Kaito just stared at the teen. He squinted.

".... Are you feeling dizzy?" He asked, putting the phone in his pocket.

"Slightly," he sighed. He wasn't as dizzy as he was earlier, but it still lingered.

"Mm.... Do you need anything?"

"No... but some water would be nice, if you don't mind?"

"I can get you some, no problem." He got up, going to the kitchen to get him a glass.

Kid sighed. He rolled back onto the couch and placed his arm on top of his face. Why did his life spiral so far out of his control? None of this was meant to happen. He was only supposed to be a simple thief to try to find and destroy a jewel. That was it.

Stupid Akako with her love obsession.

He shifted his arm so that he could stare at the ceiling. For some reason, it never interested him to look up until just then.

The ceiling was littered with stars.

Not like, stars in his vision or anything, but, the way the ceiling was made, it looked like there were little stars that glittered like the night sky. It... made him smile, and think of days when he was still just a child. Back when his father was still alive.

Today at 4:02 PM

Shinichi returned, sitting next to him quietly. "... ehi...."

The teen didn't even notice Shinichi had walked back into the room until a few minutes after the boy had sat down.

"H-huh? When did you get back?" he asked, slightly flustered.

"... Just now.. here, can you sit up?" He gently pulled him to sit up.

"Yeah..." He sat up, trying to ignore the slight spin of his head as he did so. It definitely was better than before.

He put a pillow behind his back and handed him the glass, waiting to make sure he had a good grip on it.

Kaito grabbed the glass and took a small sip. It was cold and refreshing.

"Sorry for scaring you with all that," he finally said.

"It's okay..." He sighed quietly. ".... I think we should go to Tropical Land."


	11. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> be honest... would you buy it?

Kaito smirked. He knew full well what the detective meant, but he couldn't help but crack a joke.

"What, are you asking me on a date now, Meitantei?" he teased.

"... Tch!!" His cheeks went pink. "Obviously not, barou!!"

Kaito gasped, placing a hand on his chest. "What?! I'm insulted! I can't believe the great detective doesn't want to go on a date with me! Oh, I'm so ashamed."

"... I didn't say I didn't want to..." He grumbled.

"Hm? What was that?" he asked, not quite hearing what the detective said.

".. Nothing. Anyway, let's get going already!!"

"Okay, okay, I get it, you're impatient! Just let me get ready first!" Kaito laughed, slowly standing up from the couch. One he reassured the detective that he was fine, he walked to the bathroom and cleaned himself up a little and threw on a new shirt. He even cleaned up the makeup off his face, but kept the glasses on. He was growing to like them a little.

"Okay, I'm good now," he called out as he walked towards the entrance of the house.

Shinichi came out of the shower, wearing just his jeans, drying his hair and tossing the towel on a chair. "Do you have a clean shirt I can borrow?"

Oh, Kaito saw too much. Not that he noticed his own face went slightly pink.

"Oh, yeah, hold on," he said, making his way to his bedroom. He didn't care that Kudou had cleaned it out already; he kept his eyes closed and felt around for his closet. When he found it, he looked around and pulled out a plain light blue t-shirt. 'Good enough,' he thought as he rushed back out and threw it at the other teen.

"There, that good enough for you, good sir?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure." Arms above his head to put it on. The top button was undone, the lines on his stomach peeking in a V over the hem - 

"Ready to go, then?" He straightened the top.

"Y-Yeah... Let's- let's just go."

The two slipped on their shoes and coats and out they went.

Shinichi was.. nervous. More than nervous. He stayed near Kaito at all times, pulling up the hood of his coat to cover as much of his face as possible.

Kaito immediately noticed Kudou's unnerve and asked him, "You okay, babe?"

"E-Eh? N-No, I'm fine... baka...." He stuffed his hands his his pockets, curled into fists.

Kaito tilted his head and gave the detective a concerned look, but didn't press on the subject. Soon enough, they made it to the park in one piece. They bought their tickets and entered the park.

"Hm. I wonder why we had to come here..." Kaito muttered aloud. He placed his hands behind his head.

He looked at him, blinking. "You don't know?"

"Not really. She didn't quite...." he paused, bracing for any sort of impact in case it didn't like what he said, "specify.... Maybe we should look around?"

He was half lying, at least. She had told him a few things she had in mind, stupid trinkets, but she also said that there would be a surprise waiting for him on one of the islands if they waited long enough.

"... Okay. Let's stick together." 

|It'll be fine, it'll be fine, it'll be fine, it'll be fine...|

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Even though you're the one who insisted we go, you've been very nervous since we left....?"

"We're already here, let's just.. go." He got on Kaito's phone and started texting.

So, they spent most of the day wandering around the park. They played a few of the games, won some trinkets. Kaito still didn't understand why Akako wanted some of the specific ones.... They were just cheap toys? And why couldn't she get them herself?

It wasn't until the evening when things got weird.

They were on the island of science and space when some mysterious shadow caught Kaito's eye. When he looked over, there was nothing but a little alley way in between two buildings. He figured he was just being jumpy; he could feel the urge of the curse starting to creep up on him. But he decided to check it out, anyway.

"Hey, Kudou kun. Come with me for a second," he said, pulling on the detective's sleeve.

He nodded, following without question. He didn't want Kaito to choke again. 

  
  


... And weirdly, it did feel like a date. A high-pressure date, but a date all the same. And how exactly had Kaito gotten so good at the games?? 

|Nooo, don't get distracted!!|

As they approached the alley way, Kaito could smell it.

That horrid rusty smell.

No-

NO-

Kaito was shaking now. He needed to leave, but he couldn't move. Not on his own accord. Instead of turning around, he took a slow step closer. Then another. And another.

"... Kid," Shinichi whispered, gripping onto his arm. "Are you okay?"

Another step.

Then he saw it.

It laid there, sprawled out against the left wall. It was hidden out of view from the onlookers of the amusement park. Kaito's eyes widened. He was trying to fight it, this urge- 

He was shaking more now. It was made recently, so it was very fresh. The shadow he saw must've been the one who did this.

Fresh.

Please, no-

Shinichi's eyes darkened. He took out the phone, dialing for the police. He kept a tight grip on Kaito. "Look at me," He told him, forcing him to turn his back on the body. "Look at me. Nothing else."

The magician was trying his hardest to resist, he truly was. His whole body shook and tensed up with rebellion. His eyes widened with fear and lust-

It hurt.

He needed it-

Everything felt wrong-

"Kaito... do you need it?" He put his phone in his pocket, holding both his shoulders. "... Let's get to the bathroom."

His breathing became ragged. Vision was slowly starting to blur out.

What was he doing again?

Oh yeah, that smell.

That-

Kaito suddenly ripped himself away from Shinichi's grip, taking a complete 180 and darting towards the body.

Shinichi grabbed him, and rather than stop him he forced him to redirect towards the men's room. He dragged him in there, holding both wrists behind his back and forcing him into a stall before locking it behind them. |I wish I had those handcuffs...|

Kaito struggled the entire time, trying his hardest to break away from the detective. He was getting warm again and was shaking BADLY.

"I'm here... Can you hear me?!" Shinichi tore off his own coat and Kaito's, tossing them over the stall door and searching his pocket. Pocketknife. He grabbed it, turning back to pin him to the wall again.

A voice...?

Kaito stiffened. Someone was talking to him...

"T-tantei....?" He muttered. His breathing was hard and rugged. He could feel the detective's hands pinning down his own.

It hurts....

It burns...

Shinichi cut his arm, nearer to his wrist than he intended, and pressed it against Kaito's arm. He was hoping to be able to clean him up, after this... but that was all the extra thought he could give it. 

"Yes... I'm here, I'm right here with you... Just breathe..."

Kaito leaned against the stall. His head was pounding. He was still shaking and his breathing was ragged, but it was getting better already. The magician was trying to take deep breaths; trying to calm down.

"I'm here... You're okay.... We're going to be okay....." Shinichi realized he felt dizzy. |I should get some sweet drink after this...|

After a few minutes, the shaking had stopped. Kaito cracked his eyes open. He just noticed he was moved to the bathroom.

"Oh...!!" He stiffened, turning around to face the detective.

Shinichi’s face was very pale. He pulled his wrist back, wrapping the bandages around it quickly to stop the bleeding. "Hey... welcome back," he smiled weakly.

He cupped the other boys face with his hands and looked him over. "Are you okay?! How many fingers am I holding up??" He pulled one hand away from Kudou's face and lifted two fingers up.

"Tch... barou..." He knocked his hand down, although the motion was slower than normal, and grabbed his coat. "Come on, I want something to drink."

Kaito grabbed his shoulder. "Hold on, Tantei kun, we gotta clean you up first!!" He snapped. His face was full blown with concern.

"Eh? I'm fine, baka. Just get your coat back on, I'm getting dizzy." He grumbled, turning back to look at him. His eyes didn't focus on him normally, they took a second before getting eye contact.

Kaito grabbed Shinichi's good hand and swung open the door. He pulled the boy to the sinks.

"We are cleaning you up. I don't want you passing out because of me," he said, his expression now serious.

"That's why I'm telling you I want to get a drink," he sighed.

"I will buy you as many drinks as you need, but you are cleaning up first!!" He was starting to seethe now. This boy-!!

Suddenly, somebody walked in. Kaito quickly turned around to see -

"H-Hakuba??!" He exclaimed, surprised. 

Hakuba looked at the two of them with shock and confusion for a moment before collecting himself.

"Kudou kun texted me and told me to come immediately, but I didn't think it was this bad," he stated.

"N-No, it's not about this!!" He tried to take his arm back, but he felt like he might fall over. "Hakuba, there's a body, someone just killed, it's just around the corner. Akako told us to come here, she told Kaito where to find it..."

Hakuba walked up to the two. He glanced at Kudou's bloody arm and said, "How did this happen, then?" he asked.

Kaito looked away from the both of them, but refused to let go of Kudou's arm.

".. I did it." He pulled the knife out of his pocket with his free hand, showing it to him. "Hakuba, they need a detective out there... You have to catch Akako."

Hakuba squinted. "You realize how crazy the two of you look and sound right now? Kudou kun, if anything, this case would end with Kuroba behind bars, not Akako san," he stated.

Kaito did not move an inch.

"You know better." He tried again to get his arm back. "... Kuroba. Work with me here."

"Tantei."

Kaito looked up at Shinichi. His eyes were full of sadness and despair.

"You know he's right."

"We can figure this out," he insisted. "I won't let it play out like this. Don't give up so easily...." He swayed where he stood.

"I don't want to see you hurt anymore, Kudou!!" he snapped. Kaito slammed his hand onto the sink counter. His hand would probably bruise later, but he didn't care.

"I told you, I didn't need your help! I didn't need you hurting yourself!!" he yelled, tensing up even more. He then reached into his pants pocket and grabbed something, pulling it out and shoving it onto Kudou.

It was a little plastic ball. Just the size of a large bouncy ball. 

Kaito gave Kudou one last look before storming out of the bathroom and away from the two. He had an idea; he just hoped the detectives would figure it out quickly enough.

".. K-Kid?" He watched him go, hurt and confused. He looked down at the object in his hand, then up at Hakuba.

Hakuba glared as he watched Kuroba go. "I'm going after him," he stated simply, already storming out after the magician.

Shinichi looked down at the object again, then stuffed it in his pocket and hurrying to follow him. |.. If only my head would stop spinning...|

When Shinichi left the bathroom, the two were nowhere in sight. There were police all around the area, however, completely swarming the area with the body. 

"Kudou kun?"

Detective Sato came running up to the young teen, her face completely full of worry. She obviously saw the blood on his arm.

"... Detective Sato...." He clutched his head. "... sorry... I'm a little dizzy, I can't help right now..."

She caught him and looked him over. "I wouldn't expect you to! What happened?! Were you attacked?!" she asked.

He shook his head weakly, smiling a little. "It's a long story.... uhh, I need... juice, or something...."

"Of course. Come on, let's get you to sit down for a bit."

She slowly took him over to a table and sat him down. Detective Takagi walked over and asked what happened. She quickly sent him off to go get some medical equipment and a drink for Shinichi.

"Think you could tell me what happened?" she asked softly.

".... Detective Sato... you're a logical, sound-minded person.... so I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me..." He gave her a sad smile.

“Try me,” she insisted.

"..... at the last heist, after Kid had hurt those people, I chased him onto the roof... he was shaking. Something was wrong... I tried to talk to him. He suddenly turned around and cut my hand, but instead of making his escape, he pressed it to his face... I don't remember anything after that, but after that, I woke up in a house with him. He didn't... he treated me well. But something happens to his body, now, if he has to go without blood on his skin. I saw it - he was fast asleep at the time - and I saw it again, when his eyes went blank... I didn't want him to hunt people, or risk killing someone, so while I was with him, I.." He gestured to his arms. "I did this. And I promised him I'd help him...."

Sato took a second to take in all the information she was just told. She looked at him, and then looked at his arm with a worried expression.

"Kudou kun..." He seemed so worried and panicked about all this; it was most unlike the teen detective she knew. 

"Alright, I'll try my best to help you out, but right now we need to get you some medical attention."


	12. Singed Around the Edges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trial by fire, in a way...

".... please don't let them arrest him.... Akako is the one forcing him. Don't let them...." Shinichi put his head in his hands, trying everything in his power to think clearly.

"Hey, now. Take it easy," Sato said, putting her hands on his shoulders. "As I said, I will try everything I can to help, okay?"

He nodded quietly, taking the object out of his pocket to look at it again. "..... I hope he's doing all right..."

When Shinichi picked up the ball, he noticed that it was hallow.

"What's that?" Sato asked, pointing to the ball.

"... Kid gave it to me, just before he ran." He showed it to her.

"Hm..." 

Just then, Takagi came back with the items Sato had asked for. She quickly began to work on his arms, cleaning them and patching them up.

"... Thank you," Shinichi said quietly, giving each of them a smile.

"Of course. Everyone needs help when they're down," Sato smiled. Takagi nodded behind her in agreement.

"..." He looked at the object again. "I just wish I was more help...."

Sato blinked in surprise. "What is this? Self doubt? From the great high school detective?!”

"... I'm not great, Detective Sato... I'm not even good..." He bowed his head slightly, sighing. ".. When it's most important...."

Sato flicked the boy's nose. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips and let out an angry huff. 

"Kudou Shinichi. You are by far one of the smartest, most cunning high schoolers I have ever met. When you set your mind to it, you solve crimes that not even the police force can solve. Stand up straight and proud!"

"... thanks..." He smiled bleakly. "It's just that... this case is well beyond any case I've ever faced..." 

|... makes me wish Hattori were here... I hope Hakuba is watching Kaito.....|

Sato patted his shoulder. "Out of anyone, I believe you have the greatest chance of figuring this out. You just have to persevere."

".... Yeah." He looked at his bandaged arms. "I'd better, huh." He got up, looking around. "... Be careful, okay?"

"That's what I should be telling you. Will you be okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, I'll definitely be fine!" He grinned. "I've taken my break, it's time to focus on that case!!"

"Alright then. I have to go back to this case. You be careful now, and call me immediately if anything comes up." Sato stood up and walked back to the crime scene, dragging Takagi along with her.

Shinichi smiled at the two of them, nodding and hurrying off to find Kaito. 

Hopefully.

"Here. I brought your trinkets."

Kaito slammed down the items he obtained from the park he was just at.

"Oh, thank you!" Akako smiled happily. She saw Kaito's scowl and frowned. "What's the matter?"

"You know what's the matter!! None of this is okay!! Just undo this stupid spell!!"

"I told you already, there's only one way to break the spell, and it's to announce your love to me and stay with me for the rest of our lives!" 

"Akako, I've told you, I don't like you that way," he seethed. 

"Oh? What about that boyfriend of yours? Do you want to see him suffer any longer?" She asked, flipping through a page in a book she was reading. 

Kaito froze. He.... He didn't want Shinichi hurt anymore.

"If you just agree to the terms, he won't be hurt anymore. What do you say?"

Akako held out a hand and smiled. Kaito stared at the hand.

Shinichi was.. frustrated. The damn park was so crowded, and large...

He took the object out of his pocket. |... if it's hollow.... maybe I can open it....|

After some fiddling, it opened with a pop! Inside was a little device; it was about the side of a fingernail. There was a piece of paper inside as well.

He opened the piece of paper quickly. |Kid.....|

The paper simply had a pair of glasses on it. On the glasses had a target drawn into one of the lenses. On the bottom right corner had Kid's signature doodle.

|.... A tracker?| He gave the device a closer look, fiddling with it.

In the middle of his fiddling, something activated. Shinichi could hear faint static for a moment before-

"Took you long enough. Did you get fixed up?" Kid’s voice came through the speaker. 

He started walking, slowly, staying out of sight and listening.

"Well, if you're hearing this, I've probably stormed off by now. Please, I need you to take a second to take care of yourself. Once you do, it should be easy to find me. Oh! And don't forget my phone! I really need that back, Tantei-kun!"

The static faded out. End of the recording.

"Fucking-" Shinichi continued with a stream of curses, taking out Kid's phone and looking at it. "-stupid bitchass thief always running off and getting his stupid ass in trouble I'm going to -"

There was a text from Hakuba.

[Kuroba, where are you?]

[Shinichi here, no fucking idea where the idiot went, said he'd be easy to find]

[He said he would be easy to find?'

[Yes]

[The hell you think that means?]

Saguru frowned. |Give me more information, Kudo…|   
[Well, did he tell you anything else? Leave you anything?']

[A recording on a little device]

[What did the recording say? Is there anything on his phone?]

[I'm going to Agasas to get my glasses, might be tracker brb]

Shinichi sprinted off, just hoping he wouldn't be accosted by men in black.

Soon enough, the teen detective made it to the professor's house. Haibara was sitting around, reading a magazine. Agasa was nowhere to be seen.

"Glasses!!" Shinichi was out of breath. "I need.. the glasses, hurry!!!"

Haibara closed her magazine and placed it on the counter next to her. She went into Agasa's workroom and dug through some drawers. After a minute or two, she pulled them out.

"Here they are. But what do you need from them for?" She asked.

"Tracking Kid." He put them on immediately, turning on the tracker.

"Kaitou Kid?? But how??" She asked, legitimately surprised.

"He wants me to." Shinichi took off running once again.

Shinichi ran as fast as he could, following the glasses to where the blinking dot resides. It hadn't moved the entire time he was running, so whoever it was, they were stationary.

He soon came across a large, dark house. It was surrounded by bare trees and crows hung around like it was their domain. The glasses indicated he needed to go inside. Shinichi didn't hesitate. He kept his eyes open, looking for traps, and praying that Kaito was okay.

Once he entered the house, he was greeted to a beautiful entryway. Everything had red decor to it and there were red flowers of all kinds places neatly in large vases.

Shinichi followed the indicator to the right and found some stairs that lead down. They were dark and there was a bright light at the bottom of them, like a candle lit room.

He went down the hall silently. |....hopefully I'm expected...|

Halfway down his descent he heard a pained scream.

It sounded like Kid's.

He sprinted. |No, no, no-!!!|

Once he made it down the stairs, he was greeted to an unnatural sight. The entire room was decorated to look like a witch's room that you would see from a cartoon. There were bottles lined along the wall, a large cauldron in the back.

The worst part was right in front of him.

There was a big circle of flames on the ground, and behind them was a beautiful lady with long, black hair and piercing red eyes. She immediately laughed as Shinichi entered the room.

"Figures you'd come to 'save the day' and all that nonsense," she laughed.

"Akako," he growled, recognizing her voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Why, I'm trying to help Kuroba kun lift the curse, of course! But the poor child keeps resisting! It wouldn't be so painful if he just accepted it!"

Just then, the flames moved, allowing Shinichi to see Kaito kneeling in the middle of the ring of fire; his clothes singed in places, beads of sweat rolled down his face that held a pained expression.

He ran to him, jumping through the flames. "KID!!"

Akako was slightly taken aback. She wasn't expecting the detective to jump headfirst into the fire to save Kaito. Another thing that was unexpected was when Kudou ran into the fire, he smudged the magic circle, causing the magic to break down slowly. 

Kaito, however, barely registered anything of what was happening. He was trying his hardest not to breathe in too much smoke; the thief was in the ring of fire far longer than he should've been.

He grabbed onto him, trying to pull him up to his feet. "Come on, let's get out of here!!" |Please.... please be all right...|

Kaito's eyes were glued shut and he practically went limp the moment someone grabbed him. He let out a dry cough, one that indicated he had breathed in too much smoke.

He turned, hauling him up onto his back to carry him out. |What the hell is this...|

Akako didn't even try to stop them. She just stood and watched, laughing to herself.

"You're okay.... just stay awake..." He hauled him away from her. |Why isn't she trying to stop me?|

Kaito made no indication that he was awake or not. Just some dry coughs were all that Kudou was given by the teen to indicate he was still breathing.

He lifted his legs so that he was carrying him basically piggyback. He went out the door with him, hurrying to cleaner air. 

|... I really need to hit the gym more...|

Shinichi ran to the hospital, seeking immediate medical attention. The nurses immediately helped them both and the doctors were able to patch them up. 

The two of them were currently in a room; Kaito was sleeping on one of the beds and Shinichi was sitting in a char next to him, completely bandaged up.

As soon as they were left alone, Shinichi moved closer to him, feeling his forehead. II hope he doesn't need more blood, it'd be hard to explain... oh, I should update Hakuba, too...|

He laid down next to him, taking out the phone from his inner pocket and texting Hakuba to let him know what had happened. |.. I'm so tired... I hope he’s okay....|

Shinichi accidently fell asleep. He was awoken by someone shaking his shoulder.

"Kudou kun.... Kudou kun, wake up."

"... uh..?" He blinked awake, finding his fingers tangled with Kaito's. "... What's going on?"

Hakuba stood over the two of them with a concerned look on his face. He had his hands on his hips and his head tilted slightly to the side.

"What happened??" he asked, impatience in his voice.

"... hah...." He sat up, quietly telling him what he'd seen at the mansion.

Once Shinichi finished his story, Hakuba sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why in God's name did you just rush into the fire without any protection??" He asked.

".... I'm fine..." He grumbled. "He almost died..."

"I'm sure if Akako san really.... wanted to kill him, she would've done so sooner."

".... she was willing to let him get close, as long as he.. well, did whatever it is she's trying to make him do..." Shinichi laid down again, feeling a bit dizzy. ".. and you know, it could've gone wrong..."

Hakuba sighed once more. These two were going to be the death of him.

"I'll ask the doctors to give you the spare bed. Both of you need to stay here and get proper rest," he said, turning around and heading towards the door.

"No, it's fine, I'll be up soon. Hakuba... Be careful, okay? I don't.. I don't know why she let us go..."

The British detective stopped as Kudou spoke, placing his hand on the door. He didn't look back over to the two, but he whispered a quiet "okay" before leaving the room.

|..... oh, no.... he's....| He closed his eyes again. |... Hakuba... sorry....| His fingers curled around Kaito's hand again. He planned to stay just long enough for Kaito to wake up again. He couldn't leave him alone.

Some time later, the doctor and a nurse walked in. They did some basic tests over the two and stated that Kaito should wake up soon ans that the two of them will be allowed to leave later in the afternoon. The walked out, leaving the two of them alone in the silent room.


	13. Waking up and running away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They wake up, they fight, just kiss already?

Kaito cracked his eyes open. He immediately squeezed them shut when the light was too bright.

"Aughn...." he groaned. When he shifted slightly, he noticed there was someone next to him. The teen cracked his eye open ans looked to his side.

"K-Kudou...?" He mumbled. He looked around. He quickly figured out they were in a hospital. 

|Tantei kun must've brought me here.... What time is it?|

Shinichi was curled up on his side, laying his bandaged arms on Kaito's arm and chest.

Kaito's face immediately went red.

|I... I don't think I can move....|

And move he did not. Instead, he stared at the ceiling, recollecting what had happened.

"If you just agree to the terms, he won't be hurt anymore. What do you say?"

Akako held out a hand and smiled. Kaito stared at her hand. He reached out and slapped it away.

"I don't need your pity. I just need you to undo this stupid spell," he hissed. Akako pulled her hand back.

"Well, then. I really didn't want it to come to this, Kuroba kun...." she sighed. She then walked over to a bookshelf and scanned the books. She seemed to be looking for a specific one.

"Cut the crap, Akako san! A lot of people are getting hurt because of this stupid curse!!" He yelled. Akako grabbed a book and opened it, flipping its pages.

"Now, who's fault is that?" She asked. Suddenly, she threw her hand out towards Kaito. 

Everything went red and orange.

".... mmmh..... baka..." Shinichi nuzzled against him in his sleep. He was having a strange dream...

"Hn?" Kaito looked to his side. He smiled when he saw that Shinichi was just dreaming.

_ 'Don't lie, you like him, Bakaito!!' _

Aoko's voice flashed through Kaito's mind. He quickly shook his head, throwing all his previous thoughts away. He reached over with his free hand and shook the detective's shoulder lightly.

"Oi, Tantei kun, wake up."

"Mmmh...." He pouted, blinking awake. He was immediately embarrassed. ".. Mouu!! Idiot!! You slept for forever!!"

"Good morning to you too."

"Tch... idiot, going after her by yourself... Why didn't you at least let Hakuba go with you?"

Kaito rolled his eyes. "And what, let him lecture me about the 'dangers of beautiful women'? Nah, I'm good," he said, slowly sitting up.

"... I think he might be more susceptible to such things than you... He didn't seem to want to believe Akako would do wrong, at least at first..."

"Probably because we're all classmates." Yes, before all this chaos, Kuroba Kaito was just a normal high school student. Sure, the 'night job' wasn't exactly normal, but it wasn't this kind of chaos. He knew of Akako's magic and that she was trying to make him fall in love with her, but he never would've thought she was going to get this drastic.

"Oh... Wait, seriously??? She's in your class???" Shinichi stared at him.

Kaito didn't look back to him. "Yes. All four of us are in the same class together. Luckily, we're off school for a bit, so I don't have to be worrying about all this chaos during school hours, heh..." |I don't have to be scaring Aoko with this craziness, or having the constant nagging of Akako in my ears…|

"... I can't believe you still go to school," Shinichi shook his head. "You seriously still go to school..."

This is what caused Kaito to turn back and look at the other teen. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you're Kid! Why would you worry about stuff like grades?" He may or may not be a little self conscious about his own grades.

Kaito huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "Well, I'm sorry if I don't live up to your expectations, Meitantei! I'll have you know that I didn't even want to be stealing jewels in the first place!" he stated.

"So, why do you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I-!" Kaito froze. Out of everything that he's told the detective, this was the one thing that was too personal. He turned back around, no longer facing Kudou. "..... It's none of your business...." he mumbled.

".... What is it...?" He looked at him, softening. ".... Your father was the original Kid, right? The one my father tried to catch.... Are you doing it for him?"

Kaito snapped back to him, his eyes wide with fear and anger. "How do you know that?! What do you know about him?!?" He demanded.

He held up his hands in surrender. "He left a puzzle for me and Ran, when we were kids... I was supposed to ask my father for help, but I never did. I found it again years later and realized what it was..."

"Is that all??" He asked.

"... There were other times. But, after all, it's my father, so... I just picked it up... I don't know much about your father. Not much at all."

Kaito squinted. He studied the teenager long and hard. When he concluded that Kudou was telling the truth, he stood up from the bed ans walked towards the door. ". . . I'm not going far," he said and walked out the door.

"... okay..." |I guess... it must be hard for him to talk about...| Shinichi got up and followed him. He was worried, he couldn't just leave him alone...

Kaito walked up to the roof of the hospital and walked over to the edge. He grabbed the chain link fence and looked down to the streets below. 'What would you do right now, Dad...?' he thought, 'What would you do if you were in this situation....?'

Shinichi watched him carefully, standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets.

The magician leaned onto the fence. A great wave of sadness went through him. A familiar sadness; one that he would get whenever he thought about his father like this.

Shinichi went to him, putting a hand on his shoulder silently.

Kaito flinched, snapping his head to see who had approached him. When he saw it was only Kudou, he relaxed. "Sorry," he mumbled. He looked back down to the streets.

"... it must be really hard...." He whispered.

Kaito took a moment before he responded. "I mean, there isn't much anyone can do about it," he replied.

".... no, I guess not... but... you know, you're welcome at our house, if you're ever... I mean, if you wanted to...."

"Thanks, but contrary to popular belief, I do still have family I live with," he let out a soft, quiet laugh.

"Oh? I wonder what they're like..." He said quietly, mostly to himself.

Kaito laughed a little louder this time. "You would believe me if I had told you you've met some of them already?" he asked.

"Maybe," he blinked. "Who?"

He turned to look at Kudou and winked, wagging his index finger back and forth. "That's a se-cret~!" he smirked.

"Ah..." He blinked. "... Well, I'll just ask Hakuba then."

"Ack- Tantei kun! You're no fun!" he pouted.

"Well, if you don't like it, then maybe just tell me!" He laughed. "Or at least give me a hint!"

"Nooope! I have already told you too much!"

"Eeeeeh?? You didn't tell me anything!!"

"A true magician never reveals his secrets~!" he recited, lifting his hands above his head. Just then- a pain swelled up. He lowered his arms and grabbed himself. He knew immediately it was that urge, but it had never hurt this bad so quickly.

"Ohi, are you okay??" He grabbed onto him, looking for an injury.

Kaito's body was already getting warm. |Akako must've accelerated the process after we left..|

"... oh, you need it? They took my knife while I was asleep...."

Kaito didn't look up, but he nodded to show he was listening and responding.

"..." Shinichi looked around. |Fuck, I hope I don't get infections.| He climbed up the fence to where the wires poked out. He pulled his skin along carefully, then harder, but it didn't scratch deeply enough and he dropped down. |I have to find something else...|

The teen slowly slid down to sit on the ground. The pain was getting unbearable. Everything hurt- he didn't want to- he needed to get away-

".. Don't go, Kaito. I'll figure something out..." He tried scratching himself, but it was difficult to draw blood, and it was drawing out the pain, too...

"... Kaito? Can you still hear me?" He looked at him worriedly. His eyes were wet. |Please, don't... I'll hurry up, so just don't.....|

No response.

He went to him slowly, his heart pounding fast. ".... Kaito...?"

Suddenly, Kaito lunged right at Shinichi, causing the both of them to collapse onto the ground. Kaito lay on top of Kudo, pinning him down. His eyes were distant and cold.

"N-No... No.... K-Kaito, please..." Shinichi trembled. "Just a few more minutes..."

Kaito flinched. He froze, staring at Shinichi's face. The teen was shaking horridly, almost as if he were trying to hold himself back from whatever it was he was going to do.

He looked around desperately, avoiding Kaito's look and trying to breathe more steadily. |There's got to be something.... a shard of glass, some.. some sharper wire....|

Kaito raised his hand slightly above his head. He stared at Shinichi intently, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Just as it looked like he was about to swipe at Kudou, he slapped himself in the face, putting full force behind the impact. He collapsed to the side and held his cheek. The teen crumpled himself into a ball, trying to keep himself from moving. |I don't.... want to hurt you.... anymore....|

"... Kaito...?" Shinichi stared at him, wide-eyed. 

|... Has he learned how to fight it...?| 

"... thank you...."

He wasn't lasting long, nor was he winning in the slightest. He grabbed at his hair and pulled hard. He was holding back the screams that were lodged in his throat. The pain was almost unbearable. The thought of slipping into that state went through his mind- he wouldn't be in pain anymore.... No! He refused, and tried to endure the pain for a little longer. For Shinichi's sake.

"... it's okay..." He touched his shoulder gently, a strange smile slipping onto his face. "... do what you need to..... I don't want to see you suffer...."

Kaito shook his head. No! No, he refused!! He shrunk into a smaller ball, trying his hardest to fight this urge. Slowly, the pain was starting to subside, and his feet and hands were turning ice cold.

"... Hey... Hey!!" Shinichi grabbed his wrist, feeling for his pulse. |... Don't tell me... She wouldn't really let him die, right?!|


	14. Checkups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aren't they getting a bit too comfortable with each other?

It was faint, but there was still a pulse. His grip weakened and his limbs went limp. Kaito tried to open his eyes, but the light was too bright, even though the sun was just peaking over the horizon.

Shinichi held his hand tightly, his face pale for a different reason than earlier. "... Kaito... hang in there..."

"W-....where did.... the pain... go...?" Kaito mumbled. His brain was in a daze, almost like he was working with a lack of oxygen. Everything was constantly spinning.

"....... fuck." |I can't leave him... Hakuba, he's close by, right??|

[bring a blood bag and a scalpel to the hospital roof immediately] 

[send watson if you have to]

Hakuba stared at the text in disbelief. |The hell does he need-?!!| The British detective quickly made a call.

A few minutes later, a small box fell behind Shinichi. When he looked up to see where it had come from, all he could see was a bird flying in the sky, away from the roof.

|What, seriously??? Well, thanks!!| He opened the box quickly, hoping the bagged blood would work.

Meanwhile, Kaito was slowly drifting off. He could feel his entire body start to go numb and cold. It wasn't like it was an uncomfortable feeling. . . It was like a soft blanket was wrapping around him, waiting for him to fall asleep and drift into nothingness. "Are.... we done.... yet...?" he mumbled, half conscious. He didn't move from where he lay.

He cut the bag open, letting it drip onto his neck as it was the nearest bare skin. "... does this help?"

At first, he could barely understand that he was even being spoken to. He opened one of his eyes and saw a silhouette of someone in front of him. He couldn't quite make out who it was. Then, he started to feel something drip down his neck. It felt warm, extremely warm but not uncomfortable. "W-warm....." he mumbled, closing his eyes.

He let it soak into his clothes, watching him carefully. |Seems it's working....|

The warmth was spreading. Whatever it was, it felt nice on his skin. He opened his eyes again, but still couldn't make anything out except the silhouette. "W-who's... who's there....?" he asked. His eyes were dull and dazed.

"Me, obviously, barou. It's Shinichi." He grabbed his wrist, feeling for his pulse again. Stronger. Good.

"S-Shinichi....?" he asked. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his eyes, but to no avail. "Did I... get caught...?" he asked.

"Nope." He dropped the empty bloodbag into the box. "Just you and me. You owe Hakuba, though."

There was a second bag in the box. Seemed that Hakuba was well prepared. "Ha.....haha...... That's.... funny....." he mumbled. Kaito closed his eyes for what felt like a moment and accidentally passed out. His breathing was slowly returning to normal, as well as his body temperature, but it clearly wasn't enough.

".. fine." He cut open the second bag, dumping it on his face.

Kaito flinched, waking up at the impact of the blood on his face. He was more awake now, but his body still had a hard time moving. "W-what was that for....?" he asked, blinking and spitting the blood away, "I was having a good dream....."

"Good morning. I don't want to carry you back downstairs." He smiled, glad to see him awake. "Any idea why Hakuba could get this blood to us so quickly?"

"I.... don't know... He's rich.... Rich people can.... do that, right....?" he mumbled. He tried to move his arm, but it wouldn't budge. He was tired still. He wanted to go back to bed.

"... uh, well..." He shook his head. "I guess I'll ask him later. Can you get up?"

"No." It was an immediate, and truthful answer. If he could, he would've by now.

".. Okay. Should we rest here, or...?" He texted Hakuba while he asked. 

[All good now thank you!]

[Glad it all worked out. You're not harmed, are you?] 

Kaito had passed out again while Shinichi was texting Hakuba. Although there was blood covering his face, he looked content otherwise.

[Not at all] 

[dammit he passed out again] 

[are you in the area?]

[He passed out?? You two are still in the hospital, right??]

[And no, I am at home. I was reading until you texted me. I hope you understand how hard it was to get you those blood bags so quickly.]

[You'll have to explain that later] 

[we're on the roof, long story]

[Why are you two on the roof? Shouldn't that be locked right now? And are there any staff with you?]

[followed him up here] 

[no] 

[i don't think i can carry him and also he's covered in blood now] 

Shinichi frowned, looking at him. |Should I leave him and get stuff to clean him up?|

[As much as I don't like the idea of you leaving him there, you probably should clean him up. You two might scare the life out of the staff if they see you two covered in blood like that.]

Shinichi looked at himself. 

[as it turns out i am also covered in blood now] 

[why does blood stain everything]

[why does this shit always happen to me dammit]

[I'm here to help you two as much as I can. I'm sorry that I can't do much else.]

[90% giving you shit] 

[I'll let you know how it goes] 

He looked at Kid with a sigh, hauling him onto his back. |Let's see, where was the nearest bathroom...|

The two managed to make it to a bathroom without any human catching them, though the cameras worried him.

He set Kaito on a toilet, carefully leaning him against the wall before cleaning him up and then cleaning himself up. "Better wake up soon, idiot, don't make me carry you down the fucking stairs or I swear to fucking hell...."

No response from the magician.

He gave a long, exasperated sigh. "Fine... but you owe me. Again!!"

"How about some hot chocolate and a nice, warm blanket to add to that list?"

Kaito cracked a smile.

He slapped his face, not really very hard at all. "You're so annoying!!"

"Ow!!" he whined, rubbing his wound. He looked at Kudou with a pained expression. "Come on, that wasn't very nice!! That hurt a lot!!" he cried.

"Don't be such a kid, Kid. Let's get back to the room already." He scoffed.

Kaito rubbed his cheek and slowly tried to stand, using the walls for support. "Think you can lend me a hand for free, at least?" he asked softly.

".. course, barou..." He moved Kaito's arm over his shoulders, holding him carefully and leading him out.

The two slowly made it back to the room, passing by a few nurses along the way. They offered their help, but the boys declined.

Shinichi helped him to the bed, letting him sit to rest. "... So, will you need.. I mean, I assume you want to take a shower, so if you need help, I-I don't mind...."

Kaito waved him off. "No, I'm... I'm going to rest for now. I can shower when I wake up... My face hurts so much and I don't know why...."

"... You did hit yourself pretty hard... do you remember it...?"

"No...? I hit myself? When?" he asked. He figured he would recall such an event, especially if he did it to himself.

"... Well, just before... you resisted hurting me...." Shinichi helped him lay down and then quickly turned away, taking off his tie.

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry about that...." he mumbled, looking down to the ground.

"... Why?" He didn't turn to look at him, slipping his jacket off his shoulders. "You succeeded, this time... You really did everything you could for me."

"It shouldn't have happened in the first place. None of this should've happened."

"Like it's your fault, barou." The buttons came undone, the shirt was gone too. He opened the door to the shower and turned it on. ".. Sorry I couldn't help you before it got to that point."

"You don't need to apologize. None of this is your fault. I dragged you into my mess." Kaito closed his eyes.

"... idiot. You didn't drag me in... I caught you and wouldn't let you get away." He turned to him, smiling softly. "... So quit thinking like that... baka...."

Kaito was sound asleep, faintly snoring.

"... heh. Hope you're not faking, or you'll get an eyeful." He stripped the rest of the way, setting his clothes aside and getting in the shower.

Shinichi came back out, drying off and dressing quickly. He went back over to Kaito, looking at him for a moment. He touched his cheek gently, with a softness he'd never let anyone see.

Kaito shifted his head towards the warmth of the hand in his sleep.

Shinichi sat by his side. "... sorry I hit you," he whispered, kissing the mark on his cheek. Then he laid down beside him and let himself fall asleep.

After a well needed rest, Kaito awoke. He looked over to see Shinichi sleeping next to him once more. 'Well, then, do we need a bigger bed, or-' He shook away his thoughts once more. Carefully, Kaito slid himself out of the bed without waking Kudou up. The teen then went and took a much needed shower. Once he was done, he peeked around the corner to see if the other teen was awake yet.

He was curled sideways on the bed, hugging the pillow and completely peaceful.

Kaito sighed, smiling to himself. After staring at the boy for who knows how long, Kaito snapped out of his trance and quietly walked over to the boy. He grabbed his phone from the counter. "Sorry, Kudou, but I gotta borrow this back real quick," he whispered, and walked out of the room.

Shinichi heard the door and slowly sat up. |... still warm... he only just left.| He got up quickly, putting on his slippers and going after him, hoping he'd see him before he disappeared. |Idiot.. don't leave, don't be alone...|

Kaito was standing just outside the door of the room, texting on his phone. He glanced up from his phone. "Oh, hey, Tantei kun," he greeted.

"... Idiot. Don't scare me like that..." He grabbed his hand, pulling him back in the room.

"A-ah- hey!" He quickly shoved his phone back into his pocket as he was pulled back into the room.

"Just stay in here, idiot!" He closed the door behind him and sighed in relief.

Kaito sighed, crossing his arms against his chest. "What, I couldn't take a breath of fresh air for two minutes?" he asked.

"... what if something happened, and I was asleep in here..." He crossed his arms as well.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "I HIGHLY doubt something would've happened."

"Really?? Because we were gone from this room for less than 10 minutes before things went south before!!"

Kaito shut his mouth. He did not retort.

".... what if you hurt someone? Or what if Akako caught you again?? You're still - you're still hurt from the last time..."

Kaito looked to the side, a sad look on his face. Kudou was right, after all. He may have been a little over dramatic, but Kaito understood what he was getting at.

"... Hmph. Idiot." He crossed his arms, pouting.

Kaito closed his eyes. After a moment's thought, he was about to reach out to the boy- 

There was a knock on the door, and the doctor entered the room. "How are you boys doing?" he asked.

Shinichi sighed, looking up. "I'm fine, obviously. Kaito?"

The magician quickly recovered from the shock. "Oh, yes, I'm fine, just- just still worn out," he stated. The doctor nodded. He motioned for the boys to sit down onto the bed. "Let me just check you two over real quick, alright?" he asked.

Shinichi nodded to Kaito for him to go first.

Kaito rolled his eyes and sighed, sitting down on the bed. As the doctor looked him over, he gave a confused look to the teen. "What happened to your face here?" he asked, noting the red and slight puffiness of his cheeks. Kaito stuttered, "U-uh, I kinda fell on my face when I rolled out of bed." The doctor didn't look like he believed him, but didn't press on the subject. 

After a few minutes of checking the teen over, he said, "Alright, just put some ice on your cheek there for a little bit and they'll be fine." He looked to Shinichi and said, "Now, let me take a look at your arms here."

Shinichi nodded reluctantly, moving back over to them. "I scratched in my sleep...." he explained, since the skin was still irritated from when he'd tried to make himself bleed.

The doctor shook his head. He knew the kid was clearly lying, but he wasn't going to press on it. Instead, he simply said, "You know, you two are always welcome to talk to me, or any of the staff here. We are here to help both of you."

He smiled, nodding, offering no further information whatsoever. "Thank you."

Kaito nodded as well, but gave no verbal response. He started playing with his phone again. After a few minutes, the nurse walked in with some gauze. They wrapped Kudou's arms back up and then handed the doctor a clipboard with some papers on them. The doctor nodded as he looked them over and smiled at the boys. "Aright, you two are free to go," he stated. "Thanks, doc," Kaito smiled.

"Great, let's go then!" Shinichi stood close to Kaito, almost guarding him on the way out.

Kaito shrunk a little. "It's okay, Tantei kun. I'll be fine," he said as they walked out of the building.

"... it's not really you at this point, it's just that I've got a bad feeling," he murmured.

The magician looked at the detective in worry. His paranoia was kicking in and Kaito didn't like it one bit. At that moment, he decided it was probably best to take Kudou someplace familiar to calm him down. "Here, can we go somewhere real quick?" he asked as they walked.

"..Hm? Where? I don't really mind..."

Kaito winked, waving his finger. "It's a secret~! I promise you, it's nothing bad."

".... mph." Well, of course he'd have to see it now. "Fine, then."

"Great! To the train station!" Kaito said excitedly, pointing forwards.

"... We're going someplace far?" He let Kaito lead him.

"Not too far, but far enough that I'm not walking."

"Mm... okay then...."

  
  



	15. Little Field Trip

The two entered the train station. Kaito bought them two tickets for a round trip to Beika station.

Shinichi was dying of curiosity, trying to guess where they might be going and watching Kaito carefully.

As they rode the train, Kaito distracted the detective with some small tricks. Of course, the teen saw right through them, but he didn't care (much). Soon enough, they arrived at Beika station and walked around a little until they found themselves on a familiar street.

".... ohi, Kaito.... won't you tell me where we're going, exactly?"

"Just be patient!!" Kaito insisted. Soon enough, they were at the doorstep of the Mouri Detective Agency.

".... Okay, so let me be more specific... why are we here?" He whispered. |Will she be angry at me for disappearing again?? And how will I explain the bandages??|

Kaito gave Kudou ans innocent smile and said, "A refresher~!"

".......... I hope you know what you're doing...."

"Sure I do! When have I not?" he asked, clearly lying through he teeth while wearing an innocent poker face. He started to walk up the stairs to the front door.(edited)

"...." Shinichi muttered curses but followed him.

Kaito knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

The door opened, and Ran stood there with a smile - froze, and, still smiling, gave him a knee to the gut. Shinichi caught him before he could completely fall down the stairs, and he looked like he might bolt completely. "... Shin-i-chi!!!"

The detective yelped straightened and looked back at her. "Yo, Ran! Came to visit!"

"That-That's not what I was- expecting...." Kaito managed to spit out. He was about to collapse right there and then. They JUST got out of the hospital and THIS is how they're treated?? "Yo, Shinichi's back?" Sera yelled from inside the house. She sounded completely oblivious to what was happening out on the stairway.

"Ohi, Sera! This guy just got out of the hospital, mind helping him up the stairs?" |And/or defending us from Ran's wrath...|

"Oh, yeah sure!" she said. It sounded as if she sat some sort of book down onto a table and walked out to the stairway. "Hey, come on, Ran, let's not hurt the guy while he's down okay? He hasn't done anything!" she stated, helping Kaito up. 'Oh... Okay, let's not tell her I'm Kaitou Kid and remind her of that time I disguised as her because I don't need more of a pounding,' Kaito winced.

Shinichi smirked. He didn't know Sera was going to be here... but at least now they were both in fear for their lives. "Sorry I had to go, Ran. How have you been?" "... how have I been...? How do you THINK I've been?! And who is that??!" "This is Kuroba. Say hello, Kuroba."

"H-hi..." he managed to spit out. 'Oh... everything hurts....' he thought, grabbing at his stomach. They hadn't even eaten breakfast yet, why did he have to go though all this pain?? "Well, it's nice to meet you, Kuroba kun!" Sera smiled, that signature tooth of hers sticking out.

"Kuroba, this is Ran and Sera, the ones I told you about," he said easily. |There, you have a pre-made excuse if you know more than you should. Use it wisely, idiot.| "Oh? Has he been helping you in your case, Shinichi?" Ran stands a bit closer than strictly necessary as they make their way into the agency and set Kaito on the couch.

"You could say that..." he mumbled. He rolled his head to the side of the couch and closed his eyes. Oh, how a second to rest was needed.

Shinichi sat next to him, worrying a little. |What will we do if he needs.. that again while we're here?| 

"So, Shinichi... How was the last case?" 

"O-Oh, it was fine! Well... not really, actually, haha... I didn't want to mention it, but it was at Tropical Land again. I'm beginning to wonder if they shouldn't get more security there... Anyway, haven't caught them yet, but the police told us to rest up a bit." She glanced at his arms, her expression melting into worry. 

"What happened to you?" 

"I'm all scratched up. Just stupidity, to be perfectly honest." 

_ "What happened?"  _

".. It's embarrassing. I'm more worried about you, anyway. Have you been all right?" 

"... Well, I've been worried..." 

".... M-Mhm...."

Kaito kept his eyes closed, but listened in on the conversation. He honestly didn't think it was going to end up this way; he probably should've thought this through a little better. Oh well, too late now. 

"I'm the one who got him mixed up into this mess; I requested his help," he stated, raising his hand up into the air slightly, "So, don't start yelling at him about this." 

Sera tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, so you're a client? What's your problem? Maybe I can help too-" 

"Oh, no, that's okay. This big load of problems is all I need. I don't have that much money," he said, cutting her off.

Shinichi smiled slightly. ".. Yeah, don't worry too much. I just came over to let you know I'm okay." But Ran had what Shinichi did not - a very good sense of who was interested in who. And so she knew at, at least for one side of it.... 

"Mhm.... Well, er, Kuroba. Thanks for bringing Shinichi here."

Kaito finally cracked open his eyes to look at the girls he was talking to. He gave them a weak smile and said, "Of course. The both of us needed a break and I figured having some company would help." 'Honestly, I need another nap. And some food. But mostly a nap.' "Do I even want to know what got you two so beaten up in the first place?" Sera asked.

"Mmm, this and that.... let's see.... Well, first it was that pocketknife that someone left lying around... uhh, and then there was the fence... No, wait, that's right, there was a fire, then the fence," he nodded to himself. "You know how it goes."

'Kudou, please-' Kaito winced, waiting for any sort of impact. He was quite used to Aoko freak outs.

"..." Ran looked at Sera. |Do I even want to know?|

"..." Sera looked back at Ran. 'Probably not.'

When Kaito noticed that nothing was headed towards them, he relaxed. "Say, you girls like to go get breakfast with us?" He asked.

Ran looked at him, blinking for a second, before smiling slightly and nodding. "Sera?"

"Sure," she smiled, "I'm pretty hungry myself, not going to lie."

Kaito smiled. |Good. Something calm and easy to handle.| He glanced at Shinichi. |Hopfully this will calm him down a little.|

"Sounds great. Ah, will you be okay on the stairs?" Shinichi looked at him, glancing at his stomach and wincing. He could imagine...

Ran looked embarrassed. "Sorry about kicking you..."

Kaito waved his hands in front of him. "Oh, no, you're fine! In all honesty, I quite deserved it," he chuckled.

"Heh, you're an interesting person," Sera said nonchalantly.

|Yeah, so are you,| Kaito thought. He stood up on his own, trying to his his pain in his stomach and face.

Shinichi stood, staying nearby in case he needed support. 

"... Um, let's just head downstairs to that cafe, so you don't have to go so far!" Ran suggested.

"That's fine. But you don't have to worry about me. I've been through worse, I promise you," he stated, giving a reassuring smile.

She nodded, smiling a little more genuinely. Shinichi nodded as well, and they all got up and went downstairs to the cafe.

They sat down at a table, the boys sitting across from the girls. Azusa walked up and greeted them, giving them their usuals.

"Oh, you're a new face. What would you like to drink?" She asked Kaito. He waved his hand and said, "Just water is fine." She nodded and walked to the back to get their drinks.

Shinichi sat close to Kaito, covering his hand with his to feel if he was getting hot. He was still nervous... |I should've gotten a knife on the way here...|

"Tantei kun, I'm fine, don't worry," he reassured, putting Shinichi's hand down.

Sera chuckled. "Wow, I dont believe I've ever seen Kudou kun so worried about a person before!" She laughed.

"Aah, it's not like that," He grumbled, going pink. "He just got out of the hospital, so.." 

"..." Ran watched him, then glanced at Sera with an eyebrow slightly raised.

Azusa came back out with their drinks and the four of them ordered food. After she left, Kaito asked, "So, how long have you two been together?"

Ran blushed deeply. "W-What?"

"Oh, I just thought you two were together, what with the way you two have been acting with each other. Sorry if I'm wrong," he stated, backing off. 

Sera looked at Ran's blushing face and snickered happily.

"S-Sera-!!" She covered her face with her hands. |No way... We're that obvious??| 

"....." Shinichi looked to Ran, to Kaito, to Sera, and back to Ran.

"Oh, come on, Ran, it's not that bad~!" She giggled. Kaito looked at the two of them ans smiled. He started to see Aoko and one of her friends in front of him. At the thought of Aoko, he frowned. 

|I really should talk to her at some point. She's probably worried sick about me.|

"I didn't know people could tell so easily!" 

"... you okay?" Shinichi whispered to him, noticing the frown.

"I'm pretty sure it's just because these two are just so keen, Ran. Heck, Sonoko chan didn't know for awhile until we told her!" She stated.

"Yeah, just thinking about something. It's nothing for you to worry about," he whispered back.

"Mhm..." She smiled again, reassured. 

".. okay." He nodded.

After a bit of chatting, Azusa came back out with their food. She then went behind the counter and continued her work.

Kaito eyed the food like he hadn't eaten in days. He dug in pretty quickly, as did Sera.

Ran ate prettily, watching Sera with a giggle. |She's so cute...| 

Shinichi was still a little shocked. |.... She really does seem happy.... well... Good! .... Yeah. Good.|

The group ate their food and chatted a bit more. Kaito glanced over to Shinichi. He hoped this was calming the teen down a bit more. Sadly, it was just not meant to happen-

Kaito tugged on Shinichi's sleeve. "Shinichi," he whispered, looking at him intently.

".. Now?" He looked back at him, trying to hide his worry from Ran and Sera. Luckily, Ran happened to be watching Sera for the moment.

Sera, however, was keeping an eye on the two boys. She had found it odd; the way they were acting. She bad made sure to keep it very discreet, paying most of her attention towards her girlfriend.

"I'm sorry.... I guess this morning...." he mumbled. '....wasn't enough to satisfy this stupid curse.'

He nodded. "Then, let's duck outside for a second..." He whispered back.

"Oh.. okay."

Kaito told the girls they would be right back as they walked out. They went around to the side alleyway.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Sera squinted. What were they up to???

"Babe, I'm going to go see what they're doing. They're actions have been bothering me all day today," she said, standing up from her chair.

"I'll go with you," Ran said immediately, standing up with her.

"It's okay," Shinichi smiled, showing him the knife he'd taken from the table. "Let's just be quick..."

"No, you stay here. They're probably spot us if we both go out," she said, already walking out of the building. Azusa looked at the girls, concerned.

"Okay..." he slipped his shirt off so that the girls don't see any of the blood on him.

Shinichi rolled back his sleeves, unwrapping the bandages on his damaged left arm.

"Are you certain you're okay with this?" Kaito asked, "You're going to scar your arms...."

Sera peeked around the corner, just in time to see Shinichi unwrap his bandages. 'Oh my God, Kudou kun....' she thought, inaudibly gasping.


	16. Trouble and Trouble and Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so tired of thinking up titles

"... well, how else can we?" He frowned. "My chest? But I don't have extra bandages..."

"I know, I'm just- ack-!!" Kaito flinched, grabbing his head.

".. We're in a hurry anyway." He cut his arm, pressing it to his shoulder quickly. It was hurting more and more each time... Kaito was probably right, he thought. 

Ran worried in the cafe, hoping they'd all be back soon.

Sera couldn't believe it. Kudou kun- cutting himself?! Why?? 

Kaito rolled his head a little. It wasn't as painful as the last attack was. |Akako must've turned down the intensity… Probably because I almost died last time…|

".. doing okay?" He asked him softly, watching his face. He leaned against the wall with his other hand, tiredly taking a protective stance over him.

"Y-yeah.... Just... just a headache," he mumbled.

"... let me know if it starts to feel worse..." 

|.. I really need to start paying attention to staying hydrated....| 

His head turned slightly and he caught sight of Sera. He froze.

Sera met eyes with Kudou for a split second before darting back into the cafe. She took a second to calm down before walking back over to the table next to Ran.

"You... okay?" Kaito asked, a worried expression on his face. The pain had distracted him from noticing a presence was watching them at all.

"Sera, what's wrong?" Ran asked her immediately, slipping her hand into hers. "You look... confused." 

".. she saw us... Sera did... " Shinichi got the knife, cutting himself deeper and pressing the wound against him again. "... Starting to feel better yet?"

"Wait, what...?!" He looked at Shinichi, frightened. "Tantei kun-?!"

"I saw Shinichi and that guy, Kaito," she whispered, sitting down, "Shinichi is... cutting and there's something wrong with Kaito...."

Ran gasped, shocked. "Sh.... Shinichi is..??"

Sera didn't reply. She didn't know what to think of what she just saw. It wasn't like Kudou kun in the slightest.

"Tell me when it's enough. I'm hoping to finish up before Ran sees..."

From the moment they touched, Kaito was quickly feeling better. It was almost instant, and it caught Kaito off guard.

|Woah, that was... weird…| He sat there for a second before gently pulling Shinichi away. He stared at the detective's wound and thought, |Is.... is his blood affecting me faster than others...?|

".. So? Is it good??"

Kaito blinked out of his thoughts. He didn't even notice how long he had been staring.

"Y-yeah... thanks...." he muttered. He threw his shirt over his shoulder and grabbed Shinichi's bandages, wrapping his arm back up.

"Thanks..." He let him wrap him up, trying to stay steady on his feet.

"No problem. Just let me get my shirt back on and then you can lean against my shoulder," he said softly, finishing the wrapping on his arm.

"Thanks..." He rolled down his sleeve. 

"... no way... there must be a mistake... let me up, Sera-!!"

"Ran, please, wait-!"

"N-No!! I won't let him hurt himself!!" She climbed over Sera in the booth, clearly very upset. 

Sera couldn't get a grip on Ran. Her girlfriend had run off and she quickly followed.

"Shinichi?!" Ran stared at him, shocked. She looked ready to murder one or both of them.

Kaito looked over to Ran, his eyes wide. |Oh, fuck, this looks bad....| 

Sera appeared right behind Ran, trying her best to calm Ran down.

".. Ehi, Ran..." Shinichi smiled awkwardly. 

"What are you doing?! Sera said you were cutting yourself!!!"

Kaito froze. He had NO IDEA how to respond to this. Hakuba, he could deal with, but women were a whole other story.

"It's not like that..." Shinichi swallowed, shaking. "I swear it's not..." 

"Then EXPLAIN it to me!!" 

"... I know you don't like supernatural things, so it's hard.." 

"Don't give me bullshit, explain it to me!!!"

"I'm doing it!!"

Kaito blurted out of nowhere. He wasn't entirely lying; he felt like he was doing it; it was his fault Shinichi was hurting himself in the first place.

Sera's eyes widened. "What...?"

".. Kaito, don't say stupid shit," Shinichi snapped. 

"Is it true?! Why are you doing this??" 

"Because - because I need to!" 

"What do you mean, you need to?? Stop lying to me!!" 

"Just listen then!!" 

But he knew she couldn't believe him. And if she did... it wouldn't be good for her. And how could he explain it, anyway??

"Shinichi, you know full well you're making yourself do this for me, don't put all of it on yourself," Kaito gritted his teeth.

".. Ran. It turns out, there are.." 

|She'll be scared. You monster. She'll never feel safe again.| 

"... There is another organization. Smaller, already being squashed, but they poisoned him with something strange. And now he needs a little blood at intervals until we can cure it." 

"... that's not your responsibility... And if it is, why don't you get a syringe or something?!" 

"... Ah, that's a good idea...." 

"No, I mean - stop doing that!! Get him some professional help!!"

"Tantei?!" Kaito looked at the detective, unable to say just about anything else. Sera was the same way with Ran. It seemed like these two were in the middle of something they couldn't control at all.

"I won't. I promised I'd help him until this thing was over, and that's what I'll do." 

"Oh, so for him you can keep your promises?!" 

"I tried, Ran... I'm trying just as hard with him..."

Kaito glanced between the two of them. He knew that they were having relationship problems but, he never knew it was so bad. Then, the thought came back to him:

He was keeping Kudou away from his friends and family.

"Kudou kun...." he mumbled, his voice quiet, "Why don't you go back home?"

"Eh?" He turned to him, eyes widening. |I don't want to... not back to being alone, only getting complaints, not to monotonous cases, I don't want to do without - |

"Barou, haven't you listened to what I said?" 

"So this stranger matters more than anything else?! Even your own body?!" Ran was crying. Shinichi was still weak to the crying. Shit.

"Kudou kun, she's right, you know," Kaito said, nudging Kudou to her, "I've told you since the start of this that I didn't want you hurting yourself..."

He stood still, his head tilted down, his hands painfully in fists. 

Why did that feel like rejection?

"... idiot... I'm just doing what's needed, where I'm needed. They're obviously happy, so why should I go back just to mess everything up again?"

"Kudou kun...."

"Well??" He stared at Sera. "You're going to make her happy, right??"

Sera blinked out of her shock and threw an arm around her girl. "Of course! I wouldn't want anyone else!" She grinned, her sharp tooth sticking out.

Ran blushed, wrapping an arm around Sera's waist. "But, Shinichi... That doesn't mean you don't matter anymore...."

"...Thanks, Ran. But this is strange and borderline supernatural, so I'm going to try to keep you out of it again... I know how much you hate that stuff. This time, it's going to be a lot quicker, and we'll definitely be okay, so... " He clasped his hands on apology. "Sorry, but please don't be too worried!!"

  
  


"...." She giggled a little. Scary, ridiculous, foolish, with good and noble intentions.... yeah, that was Shinichi. ".. Okay. But you have to check in way more often!!"

He was honestly shocked that worked. "... Right!"

Kaito sighed. He didn't realize how tense he was until just then. 

"I want a nap...." Kaito whined.

"Don't be such a baby, baka!" Shinichi went over to him, wrapping an arm around him to support him. "Let's go pay for the food and relax someplace."

"This was supposed to be relaxing!!" He complained. The two of them walked back into the cafe. 

Sera snickered. "I think Kudou kun has finally found himself a boyfriend," she said.

"Mhm... I think so too," Ran smiled sweetly, taking her hand.

As Sera and Ran walked back inside, they found the boys bickering to each other about who was paying for the food.

"Tantei kun, it's fine, I can pay," he stated, pulling out his wallet.

"I already told you I'd pay, don't be stupid!" He already had his wallet out.

Kaito waved his hands in front of himself. "Okay, here, since we both are clearly not gonna let up, how about we split the bill? Fair?" He asked.

Sera walked up, Ran's hand in hers. "We can pay for ourselves, too, you know?" She stated.

Shinichi just gave his card over to pay for it with a stubborn look on his face.

Kaito glared at him in disbelief while Azusa took the card, swiped it, ans handed it back to Shinichi.

"Or, never mind," Sera said.

"Shinichi..." Ran laughed awkwardly. 

Shinichi went back over to Kaito. "So, let's go, hm?"

Kaito pouted, but reluctantly agreed. He gave a genuine wave goodbye to the girls and followed Shinichi out.

"... let's go sleep for a while." Shinichi sighed.

"Sorry, didn't think that was going to be so chaotic.... I honestly thought going to see your family would've destressed you a little, but it seemed to do the opposite," Kaito said. He walked next to Shinichi, making sure he didn't suddenly stumble or black out.

Likely a good plan.

"Mhm.... it's never peaceful...." He sighed.

"Is it you or your family that's crazy?" He asked, smirking.

"... Definitely my family," he decided.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?" he teased.

"Yes. Baka. And with you?" He raised an eyebrow.

Kaito lifted his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky in thought. "Eh. I think they're alright. About as "normal" as you can get," he answered.

"Mhm." Shinichi gave him a disbelieving look.

The magician looked over to the detective. He saw the look on his face and said, "What, you don't believe me?”

"There's no way your family is normal," he grinned. "I don't believe that at all."

"Well, if you MUST know, my mom travels around the world. I'm an only child so, yeah."

He did count Nakmori keibu and Aoko as his family, as well as Ji chan, but he didn't need to kell Kudou about them, ESPECIALLY since the detective knows he's Kid.

"Mm... well, if she's anything like my mom, my point stands..."

"Well, I don't know anything about your mom, so meh!" Kaito sassed back, sticking his tongue out at the teen.

"Why would you? Baaka!!" He stuck his nose in the air.

The two continued onto the train station, having small talk about each others lives. Turns out, they both have equally crazy lives. Soon enough, they made it to the house, where Kaito immediately crashed on the couch.

"Nap timeeee..." he whined into a pillow.

"Get to a bed at least, barou," He pulled at his shoulder. "You won't rest right that way."

Kaito whined some more. "But I only have two in the house: one upstairs and the one for you downstairs. And I don't wanna use the one up here....."

He went quiet at the thought of the bedroom.

"What's wrong with your bed?" He scoffed, hauling him up. "Fine, come sleep in my bed, idiot."

"What?" Kaito lifted his face up from the pillow. "Uh- no- I think I'll be fine on the couch, thanks-" he stammered.

"Baka, you're already up anyway," he pointed out, taking him downstairs.

Kaito was lazily dragged by Shinichi down the stairs. Kaito made a fit about it the whole way down, but didn't once pull away from the teen.

Shinichi completely ignored his lying words, more or less dropped him on the bed, pulled the covers over both of them, and maybe accidentally spooned him as he quickly fell asleep.


	17. They're Not Gay

Kaito couldn't sleep now. Not with Shinichi sleeping on him. His brain was running a million miles an hour and his face was getting so hot that he was afraid his head might explode. He tried his best to just make himself comfortable, but he'd always feel the presence of another being next to him and it was hard to handle.

Kaito didn't know when, but he eventually fell asleep, completely passed out under the covers.

Shinichi woke up some time later. His arm had naturally wrapped around Kaito's waist, settling against his chest, and it felt like - oh - was Kaito holding it - ? He blushed and wondered what to do, and eventually decided it would be best to just fall asleep again. So he closed his eyes and tried his best to fall asleep, but the longer he laid there, the more he noticed how their legs were dangerously tangled, and how warm Kaito's back was when it pressed against his chest... 

In reality, he fell asleep minutes later, but it felt like an eternity.

Eventually, Kaito woke up as well, but it was some time after Shinichi woke up the first time. Kaito tried to look at the time- Jeez, was it that late?! The teen took at glance at Shinichi. He figured it would be best to let him sleep for now. Kaito carefully wormed his way out of Shinichi's grip and walked upstairs. He wrote a note and left it on the kitchen counter, saying he was just going for a walk around the block and would be back shortly, just in case Shinichi had woken up before he got back. He then slipped on his shoes and coat and walked outside.

The night air was cold and refreshing, and it felt nice to just walk around in silence by himself for once this week. It had been five days since Akako placed this curse on him; two more before school started back up again. The teen took a second to think about that; what was he going to do if they couldn't find a spell to lift the curse? He and Shinichi went to different schools. And he had no indicator on when an urge would come up. It was quite a puzzle, that's for sure.

Eventually, he had noticed that while he was lost in his thoughts, he accidentally got lost in the real world. Well, not "lost" but just "strayed from the path". He knew where he was, luckily, and made his way back safely.

He nearly ran straight into a panicking Shinichi, who was just about to go looking for him. Relief and anger greeted him. "Idiot!! Why do you insist on going off alone!!"

"Woah!!" Kaito yelled, quite startled. He was still in his mind, thinking about how to solve certain problems, when he about ran into Shinichi. "Hey, didn't you see my note? I said I wasn't going far. I needed a second to breathe, okay? Look, I'm fine. It's okay," he reassured.

"... mph." He went back into the kitchen, grumbling and going about making some coffee and calming himself down. 

|.. it's kind of surreal, this.... I can't believe this started with a kidnapping...|

Kaito let out a huff before slipping off his shoes and coat. He walked into the kitchen to see Shinichi making a pot of coffee. 

"Isn't it a little late to be drinking coffee?" Kaito asked.

Death glare. "Isn't it a bit late to be going for walks?"

"What? No, haven't you heard of night walking?" Kaito retorted, grabbing himself a glass of water, "The night air is very refreshing, I'll have you know."

"Haven't you heard of - "

No, he didn't want to go there.

"... Anyway, how are you feeling?"

". . . Fine...?" Kaito raised an eyebrow. "What were you about to say?"

"... I've seen a lot of crime, that's all," he sighed. "... You don't need more blood or anything?"

Kaito shivered at the word 'blood'. "Let's- not call it that maybe? It makes me sound like I'm a vampire or something."

".. well, it's like you are one. Except messier. What should I call it?"

"I-I don't know, something that's just not gross sounding," he said, waving his hand around frantically while holding a cup of water with the other. He took a slow sip. It was cold and refreshing.

".... mhm..." He looked at him for a long moment. |... I guess it really disturbs him now... well, it's to be expected...| 

".. maybe I can just ask if you need anything?"

Kaito paused, giving it some thought. ".... A-alright, that's works, I guess...?" he mumbled, taking another sip.

".. Okay... or, if I can't ask, I can just do this..." His fingers moved over the back of his hand, pressing gently to feel the temperature of his skin. He moved to his wrist, catching his pulse. "... you get warmer, and your pulse gets faster, so.. this way I can easily check..."

"Oh... okay..." Kaito mumbled, watching Shinichi's every move.

"... Ohi, you're actually.. warmer, now, and your heart is beating faster.... are you sure you don't need anything?" He asked him, his voice soft and quiet.

Kaito flushed red. He looked away, pulling his hand away from Shinichi's hold. "No- I said I'm fine, didn't I??" he stuttered.

"... Well, yes, but, it happens suddenly, so.. I wanted to double check..." He looked at Kaito's face carefully. |He does look a little flushed... is he just not ready for another round? I should actually go get some syringes, that was a great idea...|

Kaito placed his glass on the counter and cleared his throat. "A-anyway, school is coming up real quick here, and I was wondering; what do we do if we don't break this curse before then?"

"... Well, just not go to school, I suppose," He shrugged.

Kaito blinked. "What? But, education is important!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, but not as important as keeping people alive. Listen, if you're so worried about it, let's enroll in some kind of online school."

The magician tilted his head to the side. "But, what about all your friends and classmates?" he asked.

".... I guess I'll have to be gone for a while again," He shrugged like he didn't care.

Kaito guessed that was the difference between himself and Shinichi: how much of an extrovert he was compared to how much an introvert Shinichi was. That or Shinichi had shipped school too many times to care anymore, which was also a sad thought to think about.

"Well, all I know is that Aoko would kill me for sure if I didn't show up for class, so...." he trailed off, thinking about the horrible beating he would get from the girl and shivered.

"Mmm.... Well, let's just try to solve this before then." 

And what then? A gentle voice asked him. He ignored it, pushed it away. 

"So, she wants you to fall in love with her. What sort of things might break this curse, besides giving her what she wants?"

Kaito shrugged. "She refused to tell me," he stated. He figured that there must've been another way to break the curse, but he didn't have the slightest idea.

"... mmh.... It seems like a fairy tale... Maybe it needs some kind of fairy tale solution?"

Kaito scoffed, "What, like a kiss from a princess?"

"Maybe?? I don't know!!" He crossed his arms.

"What, it's not like we can just ask her! I've tried that and all she tell me is tha-!!!!"

Kaito's eyes widened in pure fear. He collapsed onto his knees then onto his side, grabbing at his chest and neck. He struggled around in pain, desperately gasping for air as the hands grabbed at his neck like a toddler playing with their favorite toy.

"KAITO!!" Shinichi was immediately by his side, holding him helplessly while Akako tortured him.

He continued to struggle, but soon his limbs became heavy and his head began to spin rapidly. A moment later, his entire body went limp and Kaito lay unmoving on the floor.

".. Kaito?" Shinichi's fingers found his pulse in his neck. Was it his own blood in his fingers or was Kaito's heart still beating? Should he start CPR?? What if - 

What if -

Suddenly, Kaito gasped for air, coughing and wheezing as his lungs struggled to work again.

Shinichi held him, pulling him to rest against his chest as he recovered so that he could hide his face.

Eventually, the coughing stopped and Kaito was breathing normally. A minute or two later, Kaito's eyes fluttered open. The world was still spinning, but he was able to make sounds. 

"T-Tantei kun....?" he whispered.

"... here..." Shinichi reached for and caught his hand, feeling his wrist for his pulse before simply holding it. "... Just take a minute to rest..."

Kaito's eyes were dull, but he was breathing and blinking, which was a sign that he was alive and functioning. "Wha.... what happened....?" he asked quietly.

"... you started to talk about her, like an idiot." He tried to keep his voice steady, but he knew it broke and quivered. "... You were unconscious, and she still waited more before letting you breathe...."

". . . Oh..."

Kaito tried to look up at Shinichi, but the light was still too bright and his head was still spinning. 

"C-can I.... lay down...?" he asked, "Head won't..... stop.... spinning...."

"... yeah... hang on..." Shinichi slowly stood, holding him bridal style. He carried him, with some difficulty, back to bed, laying him down very gently.

When he felt that he was set down, Kaito lifted his arm up to his head, resting his wrist on his forehead. He was hoping that it would help somehow. 

". . . You know what....?" he said out of nowhere, staring at the ceiling.

"... What?" Shinichi sat down near him, glad that the lights weren't on. His eyes were still threatening to well over in tears if he wasn't careful.

"The spinning.... It reminds me of being on a boat.... in the middle of the ocean..." he stated, not looking away from the ceiling, "And it makes me think of all the scary things that live in the ocean...."

"... You mean, like sharks...?" Shinichi blinked. He suggested it only because he knew a lot of people were afraid of them.

"So many.... scary things...." he whispered, thinking of all the different fish that live in the ocean. It scared the shit out of him. He didn't even understand why he was thinking of them- but he was and he didn't like it.

".... Well, they're not here..." Shinichi took his hand again. "You're in a safe, dry bed, firmly on land. There's nothing and no one else here but you and me."

"Man... my head hurts so bad...." he mumbled, closing his eyes. He was tired again, finally. "What time is it?"

"... um, not sure... why?" He asked, worrying.

"I don't know... Just curious, I guess...." he mumbled.

"... you should get some more rest..." He decided, pulling the blankets over him.

"But... I'm not tired," he blatantly lied.

"Tch...." He laid down next to him, grabbing his arm. "I don't have handcuffs, so this will have to do... get some rest, idiot."

"Hey, let go," he stated, trying to squirm free. He stopped after a second of trying due to his head starting to spin once more.

"See? Idiot. Go to sleep. Or should I just lay on top of you?" He asked, smirking.

Kaito pouted. "I stopped breathing recently, and the first thing you think of is to lay on top of me," he stated.

"Well, your head is spinning, and the first thing you think of is getting up to wander around," he retorted.

"I never said I was getting up; don't put words in my mouth," Kaito stated.

"Whatever, Mr. Not Tired." Shinichi held onto his arm, leaning against his shoulder.

  
  
  


|... I really thought I'd lose you....|

Kaito let out a huff, but didn't try to squirm away this time. Instead, he just closed his eyes and fell asleep.

_ And what if you did? He's not yours. Once this is over, you'll probably never see him again. _

|...... I think we could still be friends....|

_ Perhaps.. but you'll never be what you're really wanting... _

|And what's that?|

_ You already know. _

  
  


Soon enough, Shinichi fell asleep as well, and the two slept quietly though the night.

Shinichi woke up to find he was pressing his body against Kaito's again. Gently and slowly he pulled away, looking at his sleeping face with a soft smile.

|.... Mornings are... a lot better, like this....|


	18. Getting Worse and Worse

Kaito was sleeping away, like nothing was wrong at all.

Shinichi felt for his pulse, just to reassure himself.

|... maybe all this will stop, once this is over....|

He got up to make some coffee.

Kaito rolled over in the bed, bothered that he lost a source of warmth in his sleep.

Shinichi came back with a cup of coffee, his phone, and a smirk. |I can't believe I didn't find it earlier... let's see, what do I have... ohhh, that's a lot of messages....|

He sat next to Kaito, letting his head rest slightly against his thigh.

The teen magician mumbled some things in his sleep, not it wasn't understandable. He didn't seem to show any signs of waking up soon. He needed the rest, however.

He adjusted so that Kaito's head rested on his lap more comfortably, the arm with the phone rested next to the top of his head, and the mug rested in his right hand. Completely comfortable, feeling completely safe.

Kaito slept contently where he lay. It was warm and comfortable. Why would he need to move?

They rested contentedly together until Shinichi's mug was empty, his messages had been taken care of, and he was nearly falling asleep again himself.

Kaito's face scrunched up. He turned slightly in his sleep, as if he were uncomfortable. Little beads of sweat started to form on his face.

Shinichi frowned, putting his phone aside. His hands felt over his neck, checking his pulse. "Kaito? Are you... Do you need anything? Wake up..."

Kaito did not wake up, however. He continued shift ever so slightly, shaking a little.

Shinichi gently transferred him to the pillow and got up. |I guess the syringe idea will have to wait...| He got a knife from the kitchen and, since they were in private and not in a hurry, elected to cut his chest instead of his arm this time. He took off Kaito's shirt and moved the blankets aside and then he did it. Usual pain, usual stabilization, and then he laid on his side close to him, so that his side could soak it up. He pulled the blankets back over them. |.... I'm so tired... he's not going to wake anyway, no harm in just resting a bit....|

A few moments after Shinichi went back to sleep, Kaito finally woke up. He lazily blinked his eyes open, completely unaware of what had transpired. He yawned, shifting slightly. 

That's when he felt it. 

The gross warmth on his side.

Kaito slowly looked over and saw-

“TANTEI!!”

Kaito quickly jolted up, shifting Shinichi onto his back so that he was laying flat on the bed. There was a large slash down his chest and it was bleeding badly. Kaito panicked, unsure of what happened or what to do.

First things first: give Shinichi first aid. Kaito hunched over and shook Kudou a little, trying to wake him up.

"Tantei!! Tantei, wake up, please!!!" he called out to the detective, hoping he would respond in some way.

Shinichi was pale and unmoving, blood oozing from his cut with each breath he took. The knife bounced away from them, landing on the floor. The hands that had been clinging to him now lay still at his sides.

Kaito paled.

No.

Nononono-

NONONONO!!!

Kaito placed his hands on Shinichi's chest, applying pressure to the wound. Kaito's hands were shaking terribly, and his eyes began to burst with tears.

|I-I did this, didn't I???'| His hands were now covered with blood. |This is my fault!!! Tantei kun please!!! Please, wake up!!!!!|

Shinichi groaned. The pressure on his chest hurt... who was doing that? And why?

|Just let me sleep... I'm so tired....|

Kaito froze at the noise. 

"Tantei kun!! Wake up, please!!" He begged, crying terribly. "Come on, please!!"

_ That voice..... _

_ Kaito's.... _

  
  


_ Is he crying? _

  
  
  


"... nngh...... Kaito...?" He cracked his eyes open, forcing them to look. His heart broke at what he saw. ".. What's wrong..... what happened?"

"You tell me what happened?!? I wake up and you're bleeding out!!!" He yelled.

He winced. "I'm fine, barou... You needed some, and so I just..."

"I don't care about that!! You could've DIED!!!" he snapped, "You can't just- just- just do THIS?!?! You'll bleed out!! Then what am I supposed to do?!?"

His vision blurred with tears. |I'm just trying to help.... why does he get angry every time.....| Shinichi closed his eyes. Nothing was making sense. Kaito was upset, and it was with him, and there was nothing he could do...

Silence developed over the house. Kaito slowly lifted his hands from Kudou's chest. They were shaking, completely coated in the crimson liquid that he hated. He stared at his hands for a moment before getting out of bed and walking off.

A minute later, he came back. His hands were clean and he was holding a bunch of first aid gear. He then silently began to work on patching Kudou up, starting with cleaning the wound.

Shinichi woke up a little more as Kaito patched him up. He watched his hands, absently and sadly. "... wish you'd understand... I don't mind...." He mumbled.

Kaito didn't respond. He simply continued to patch Shinichi up. Once he finished, Kaito stood up next to the bed and stared at Shinichi. The look in his face- it was hard to describe the sheer amount of sadness that rid on it. His eyes were already red and puffy from crying and his whole body was still shaking.

"... Kaito.... I don't care if I get hurt..." He insisted weakly. ".... none of it is your fault..."

Kaito squeezed his eyes shut and turned around. He couldn't look at the other teen anymore. Not right now. Not at this second. It hurt. It was painful to look at.

|It's clearly my fault.

It's all my fault.

You shouldn't be hurting yourself, yet-|

Kaito walked out of the room.

".... Kaito..." Shinichi tried to get up, but stopped, wincing in pain. |... it's my fault...|

Kaito solemnly walked upstairs. The passage felt like miles, and the climb felt like a steep hill. He absentmindedly navigated himself through the house until he ended up in front of his bedroom door. He paused in front of it for a moment, staring at the door. He then turned the doorknob and walked inside, locking himself in.

Shinichi got up several minutes later, looking for him. "... Kaito? Are you here?" |I hope he didn't leave...|

No response.

He went upstairs, his heart beating a little harder. All his cuts were burning... 

".. Kaito? Please answer me..."

The house was dead silent, save for the soft chirping of birds outside.

|... no way... he didn't....| 

He knocked on the bedroom door. "... Kaito?"

Still no response.

He turned the handle, finding it locked. ".... Kaito, open the door!!"

Silence was the response.

Shinichi left and returned at a run, slamming a hammer into the doorhandle. He did it again, until it broke, and then burst into the room, in fear.

Kaito had himself on tip of the bed, sitting up while scrunched up into a ball. His arms were grasped over his head and his eyes were wide open with terror; it seemed as if he were seeing something else entirely. His whole body was trembling and tears were silently running down his face.

Shinichi went to him, wrapping his arms around him warmly. "... idiot... why did you come in here..."

The instant Shinichi made contact, Kaito jolted and spazzed out, trying to break free from the embrace.

He let him break away, then patiently went back to him, taking his hand. "Let's get out of here..."

The teen pushed Shinicho away, falling off the bed with a loud thud. He lay on the floor, shaking terribly. He closed his eyes shut and tightened into himself once more.

He knelt by him. "... Kaito... I don't know if I can carry you now..... come on, please... Everything's okay now..."

Kaito didn't move nor respond. In all honesty, he probably couldn't even hear Shinichi by this point. He locked himself in his mind and refused to come out.

Shinichi got his phone and called Hakuba. |Kaito might not be happy about this, but....|

Hakuba answered two rings later.

“Yes, hello?”

"... I'm sending you my location, Kaito's... I don't know what's happening..."

“Alright, I'm on my way. What's going on right now? What's his condition?”

"He's physically okay, but he can't seem to hear me."

Shinichi could hear shuffling on the other end.

'He might be having a panic attack. Just try to calm him down until I get there, alright?'

"Yeah, okay!" He put the phone down, gently taking Kaito's hand again. "Breathe, Kaito... It's okay.... I'm here....."

Kaito flinched, but didn't pull away.

"It's okay... everything's okay...." He slowly helped him sit up, trying to hold him.

Kaito didn't respond at all. He didn't move, he didn't jerk away, he just sat there. And cried.

"... I'm here... it's all okay now...." He rubbed his back, holding back tears himself.

About 15 minutes later, there was knocking on the door, followed by a shout.

"Kudou kun?!" It sounded like Hakuba.

"Come in, Hakuba!" He called, hugging Kaito tighter.

Kaito flinched at Shinichi's yelling. He started shaking more, tightening himself up.

"Shhh, shhh, it's okay..." Shinichi spoke gently, petting his hair.

Within a second, Hakuba was in the room, looking around in horror. 

"What on Earth happened....?!" He whispered loudly.

"Help me get him out of here..." Shinichi whispered back.

Hakuba walked up to the boys without question. Carefully reaching down to pick Kaito up. Once he came into contact, Kaito jolted. He clung to Shinichi, desperately clinging to something familiar.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Shinichi stood, keeping his hand on his chest and holding his hand. "I'm here... Everything's all right..."

Hakuba held onto Kaito's other side, keeping his touch gentle. They managed to make it out of the house and into Hakuba's car, where they were driven off to Hakuba's house. There, the boys were taken to a spare bedroom to rest.

Hakuba waited until the two had fallen asleep before taking a step outside the room. He let out a long sigh.

"Those two are a mess," he said to himself. He went to his own room and read for a bit.

Shinichi spooned Kaito, resting his phone on his shoulder.

[Hattori you will not BELIEVE the day i just had]


	19. Hakuba's House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybody wants to be the hero...

[KUDOU?!? DUDE!!! I heard you went missing, what happened????]

[So I've been with Kid, he's been cursed apparently, and he needs to have blood on his skin now, so to keep him from accidentally killing someone I let him use my blood]

[What kind of joke is that? Kudou, you suck at jokes.]

[Barou]

[Anyway I cut deeper than I meant to and he completely freaked out]

[Also Ran and Sera saw us doing it earlier]

[WOAH KUDOU!!! You scored yourself a boyfriend?!? As your best friend, let me say I'm so proud of you!!!]

Shinichi's face went red from neck to ears. 

[NOT LIKE THAT OBVIOUSLY BAROU]

[HE'S STILL A THIEF RIGHT]

[DIRTY MIND]

... But he couldn't deny he was cuddling pretty close to him right now....

[Then why help him, man? Just like you said, he's a thief. You should arrest him, not help him.]

Shinichi thought for a moment.

[Because it's not his fault]

[And I don't want to catch him like this]

[I guess that's fair. Hey, if there's anything you need, just let me know, okay?! I'll be on the first flight to Tokyo I can catch!!]

[I mean, we're at Hakuba's right now]

[It's probably fine if you come over]

[He might be a little annoyed]

[Goodnight]

[Night, dude]

[Hey wait, it's not even the afternoon!!]

Too late. Shinichi set his phone aside and curled around Kaito, letting himself drift off to sleep.

  
  


Kaito woke with a start. His breathing was heavy as he looked around in a panic.

'W-where am I...?!' he thought in worry. He didn't recognize the room he was in at all. He shifted slightly to try to look around, but he felt something holding him down.

He was about to start freaking out even more, but then he noticed Shinichi. It calmed him down quite a bit.

|Oh.... Tantei kun is here....| he thought, his shoulders sliding down. |So at least I know I'm safe.... I think....?|

He took another moment to look around and actually analyze where he was. It seemed to be a large bedroom with plain wallpaper and furniture, and white curtains blocked the sunlight from shining right in their faces. From what he could tell, it was about sometime past noon.

|Slept through the whole morning, huh? … Our sleep schedule is completely trashed.|

Shinichi snuggled into his shoulder, still mostly asleep. He felt way too warm and comfortable to want to wake up completely.

Kaito sighed at Shinichi. He wanted to get up, but he knew the detective would have a panic attack if he woke up with a lack of Kaito. So instead, Kaito laid there in bed and played around on his phone while he waited to Shinichi to wake up.

Shinichi kissed the nape of his neck, mumbling unintelligibly.

Kaito scrunched up his shoulders. What the fuck-?! His face went completely red once he realized what had just happened.

"T-Tantei kun...?" he said, seeing if the boy would wake up.

"Shhh... s'okay, Kaito..." He muttered, sounding very much not awake. ".. everything's okay..."

|Is he dreaming right now??| he asked himself. Kaito tried to turn around and shake Shinichi a little. Maybe he would wake up this way?

"Tantei kun, wake up, it's past noon," he said.

Shinichi grumbled, grabbing at him blindly. He was partially muffled by the pillow as he rolled over lazily to lay on his stomach, but what was clearly heard was, "Nooo... 's clearly my flmph... 'rou...."

"What??" 

Kaito tilted his head. Nothing Kudou said made sense. He shook the teen's shoulder one last time.

"Shinichi, wake up!" He barked.

"AAH!! What?? What's going on??" He jumped in the bed, scrambling in a discombobulated way.

"Well, good morning to you too!" Kaito laughed at Kudou's reaction.

He grabbed a pillow and threw it at him, then grabbed his side in regret and pain. "Oww... that hurt me more than you.."

"Oof-!" Kaito fell backwards, his back flopping onto the bed. He continued laughing for a moment after he ripped the pillow off his face and sat back up.

"You okay, Tantei kun?" He asked after calming down.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he grumbled, getting up. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"U-uh...."

Because you were dreaming and kissing my neck and-

"Because it's past noon and I have no idea where we are," he stated simply.

"Well, we're at Hakuba's." He grumbled, pulling on his shoes. "Hmph."

Kaito tilted his head to the side.

"Hakuba's? What are we doing here?" He asked.

"Because you two are not healthy enough to live by yourselves."

Kaito looked up to see Hakuba and the doctor that looked after them in the hospital a few days ago. The doctor looked concerned at the boys and Hakuba himself looked annoyed, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the doorway.

"Hakuba helped out yesterday, so.... We owe him one," Shinichi told him quietly, standing up and straightening his shirt.

"Yesterday?"

Huh? Had they slept through the whole day?

Hakuba shook his head. "No, Kudou kun, it's still the same day. You two have slept through most the day, however," he stated simply.

"Oh. Well, okay then." He shrugged. "Point stands."

Kaito shook his head. "Hold on, wait a minute? What happened again??" He asked, utterly confused.

Hakuba glanced over to Shinichi. "Well?" He said, his tone unamused, "Care to explain to everyone in the room what happened?"

"A recap, huh...." Shinichi frowned. "Well, Kaito woke me up because he was so hot and sweaty, and he needed blood again, so I did the usual, and then Kaito woke up and freaked out and left and went to the room that he knew made him upset to be in and had a panic attack, and I was tired of his shit so I called Hakuba over."

Kaito stared at the teen in shock. 

"Tired of my shit?? Is that what you think all this is?!" He yelled. The doctor held out his hands and was about to say something, but Hakuba stopped him.

"I gave you plenty of times to leave, you know!!" He continued.

"Yeah, I know," He grumbled. "You're welcome, you idiot."

"You need to take care of yourself before you even THINK to take care of me!! What's the point in trying to help me if you die in the process, huh?? Aren't you trying to prevent others from getting hurt?! How can you do that if you're dead??"

Kaito took a second to breathe; deep breaths. He was shaking and his knuckles were turning white from how tight his fists were.

"I wasn't going to die!! You just overreacted!! Idiot!! I obviously do take care of myself!!" He snapped. 

|Besides, what's the point if you die and I live?!|

"Who thinks it's a good idea to just fall asleep while they're bleeding out?!" Kaito cried.

The doctor decided that he had enough of this. "Alright, you two, that's enough now," he said sternly. Kaito froze. He looked at the man.

Shinichi crossed his arms. "I wasn't bleeding out," he muttered.

The doctor motioned his hand. "Kuroba san, why don't you follow Sir Hakuba into another room while I check on Kudou san?" He asked. Kaito did as he was told and sluggishly walked out of the room, following Hakuba down the hall.

The doctor slowly closed the door behind him, allowing a soft click to ring out.

"Alright, would it be all right if I were to ask you to take off your shirt please?" He asked Kudou.

"Sure." He took it off, really not minding. "It's not as bad as the idiot says."

The doctor started to carefully unwrap the bandages around Kudou's chest.

"You do understand he is simply worried about you, Kudou-san?" The doctor asked.

"... well, yes... but it's clearly my turn to worry about him..."

"I believe you two should worry about each other equally, not one more so over the other."

Finally, the bandages were off. The doctor gave a somewhat worried look at Kudou.

"I guess Kuroba san cleaned this up earlier? It looks like it's already healing," he stated.

"Yeah, he did. So it's fine. He worries too much..." Shinichi grumbled, feeling guilty.

"I would not blame him," the doctor stated, grabbing some of his tools. He started to clean up the wound again, just to make sure it wouldn't get infected. "Cutting yourself and losing so much blood like this is not healthy for your body or your mental state," he informed.

"Well, I know that," He scowled. "Hopefully I won't have to much longer. Though it's not like I mind... ah, I'm rambling, sorry."

The doctor huffed, but kept quiet as he finished cleaning up Kudou's wound. He then reached over and grabbed some fresh bandages and began to wrap them up around Kudou's chest.

"Well, I want you both taking care of yourselves, and each other. Sir Hakuba has asked of me to keep an eye on the health of both of you, and I intend to do so," he smiled, finishing the wrapping. "I'd also like to look at your arms as well, if you wouldn't mind? I'm sure giving them some fresh bandages would be nice."

"Yeah, why not. Just don't tell Hakuba any details, okay? Privacy?" He sighed, unwrapping his arms for him.

"Of course. Even Sir Hakuba knows I will only say anything if the patient gives me permission. Being here is no exception," he stated. Once Shinichi finished unwrapping his arms, the doctor began the process again, checking over the wounds and wrapping them back up with new gauze. When he was done, he then did some more basic tests (checking of breathing, heart rate, etc) and then stood up. 

"You'll be fine," he stated, "Just make sure not to open any of those wounds; they could get infected and then we'd have a problem."

"... fine.  _ If _ I get any more wounds, I'll call you to check them, too," Shinichi promised. ".. Then maybe those idiots won't worry so much."

The doctor smiled. "You must really care for those two, huh?" he asked.

"... yeah..." He blushed, looking at his feet and scowling.

"Well, I know that they care for you as well. Be happy you have people in your life who love and care for you, alright?" he said as he opened the door. He took a step out and closed the door behind him, leaving Shinichi alone in the room.

Shinichi sat down on the bed, looking down at his arms and thinking about what the doctor had said. 

|... I mean, they obviously know..... of course they do....|

About a half hour later, Hakuba walked back in to the room Shinichi was in.

"Hey," he greeted, closing the door behind him.

"... Hey," he said quietly.

"Feeling any better?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine...."

"You don't sound fine."

"....... I'm sorry I keep worrying everyone... I just... I have to help if I can...."

"I understand that. But you also need to help yourself as well."

"... right, okay..." He sighed. "... I'm going to see the doctor after each time, now.. and, if I can get access to some syringes..."

"We need to figure out just how much blood Kaito needs before I'll just hand them to you, alright?" Hakuba stated.

"Well, sure. It'll be easier to try it like that," He nodded. "Although stored blood apparently doesn't hold him over as long."

"Hm... so it needs to be fresh?" he asked.

"I guess so," he sighed.

". . no. . "

He opened the door anyway, closing it gently behind him and going over to sit next to him. 

"..... so, what's wrong?"

Kaito buried his head in his chest. He didn't want to look at the detective.

". . . nothing."

"... Oh?" He waited patiently. He knew Kaito would tell him eventually... intentionally or no.

". . . Go away, Hakuba."

He sat silently, looking down at his knees. |.. You know I want to help you. If only to listen when you need it.|

Kaito sat in silence, shaking terribly. He figured by this point, it was the urge, but he didn't care. Let it engulf him. He was still mad about his and Shinichi's argument earlier. Stupid Shinichi, thinking he'll be fine.... Thinks no one cares.....

".... is it about Kudo?" He prodded gently.

Kaito flinched. Was he really that easy to read?! This was NOT okay!! 

His shaking got worse. There was ringing in his ears.

He put a hand lightly on his shoulder. "... I won't tell him anything you say.."

Kaito shrugged Hakuba's hand off. His head was hurting terribly. 

_ Leave me alone.  _

_ Leave me alone. _

_ Leave me alone. _

"......" Saguru felt horrible. |Why can't I help him? Of course we fight a lot, but I still trust him...doesn't he feel the same?|

Kaito's face started to drip with sweat. The ringing in his ears was getting unbearable, and his shaking was horrible.

_ Take me. _

_ I don't care. _

_ I don't want to think right now. _

Kaito's mind went blank.

"... Kuroba?" 

|Another panic attack?| 

"Kuroba, answer me."

Suddenly, Kaito lunged at Hakuba, slamming both of them onto the floor.

  
  



	20. Night Terrors

He yelled, surprised, and stared up at him in shock. "Kuroba-?!"

The look in Kaito's eyes- they were cold and distant, almost as if he weren't there anymore. Kaito grabbed at Hakuba's neck and started to strangle the teen, not holding back at all.

"K-HHGH-" Hakuba grabbed his hands instinctively, trying to pull him off. He couldn't. He squirmed and struggled, making it as difficult as possible for him.

After some struggle, Kaito released one of his hands and slashed at Hakuba's face, cutting his face lightly with his nails.

He gasped fruitlessly for air, realizing he'd pass out very soon. He found his phone, letting Kaito scratch him up while he called Shinichi.

Kaito didn't let up whatsoever. His expression was cold.

He tried and tried to push him away, coughing whenever he could get a breath. Black spots appeared in his vision, and his struggles grew weaker and weaker. 

Shinichi was running, Heiji by his side. |Please, please, please...|

Kaito then let go of Hakuba's neck, lifting his hand above his head to strike the final attack.

Hakuba coughed and gasped desperately. ".. D-Don't..."

Shinichi burst into the room, eyes wide. "KAITO!!" 

Heiji went straight for him, tackling him to the ground.

Kaito slammed into the ground and then immediately began to struggle in Hattori's grip. He clawed at the Osakan with all his strength.

Shinichi went to Kaito quickly, grabbing one wrist while Heiji grabbed the other. "Hakuba?! Hakuba are you okay?!"

Kaito struggled more, lashing out like a wild animal.

Saguru managed to sit up a little, his breaths rattling in his throat. "... does... does he need...?" 

"... I think so... Get me a knife or something!!" 

"I can do better..." He hauled himself up, shaking, and grabbed a syringe for him. "Hattori, can you hold him down yourself?"

Kaito flailed his legs and somehow managed to hit Hattori's leg in the process.

"Won't be easy!!" He let go of his wrist, grabbing his back and holding him that way instead. "Hurry up!!"

Shinichi got up quickly, grabbing the syringe from Hakuba and getting his blood for Kaito. "Try to hold him still!!" 

Heiji just glared at him, holding on as hard as he could. 

Shinichi pushed the blood out over his neck. |Please calm down... please go back to normal... please...|

The teen continued struggling for a bit longer, not showing any signs of letting up-

Kaito froze. The blood was kicking in.

He slowly relaxed, his struggling slowly coming to a halt. His eyes were still dull, but they were dazed now, almost as if he were slowly losing his grip on his consciousness.

Shinichi put the syringe on the counter, picking up Kaito and with Heiji's help getting him on the bed. ".. I'm going to make sure he's okay.. Hattori, can you help Hakuba get to the doctor?" 

Both of them grumbled but agreed.

Soon enough, Kaito passed out. There, he quietly slept on the bed, as if nothing happened.

Shinichi laid next to him, pulling him close and worrying. |Why didn't he ask me to help him? Why didn't he call me over?|

Kaito tensed up at Shinichi's touch. He started to shake lightly.

Hattori took Hakuba to his room by Hakuba's direction. Once the two got there, Hattori laid Hakuba on the bed and called the doctor.

The doctor ran in about a minute late to look at Hakuba. About an half hour later, he was able to get Hakuba better than he was before. 

"He'll just need to rest for now. I bandaged up his neck; it'll just be sore. Just don't let him move it and try to make sure he keeps talking to a minimum," the doctor informed before walking out.

Hakuba himself was now sleeping soundly on his bed.

Shinichi kissed his cheek softly. "Kaito.. it's okay, I'm here..."

The magician whimpered lightly. He seemed to be having a bad dream of sorts.

"Kaito... It's okay, I'm here..." He kissed his cheek again. "It's okay... I'm right here..."

Kaito was still shaking and whimpering. Whatever was happening in his dream, he didn't like it in the slightest.

"Kaito, wake up!" Shinichi shook his shoulder gently, speaking out loud. "Kaito!"

The boy wasn't waking up. He was having this nightmare, whether he liked it or not. He kept trying to toss and turn, and beads of sweat dripped down his face.

Shinichi laid on top of him, so that he wouldn't hurt himself or attack anyone, and continuously reassured him, telling him he was okay over and over, kissing his face over and over.

The teen kept whining in his sleep, every once in awhile mumble a word or two that didn't make any sense.

Heiji knocked and walked in, all in one motion, to find Kaito whining beneath Shinichi. He froze up. ".. Uh..." 

".. Oh, hi Hattori..." 

"..... Ah, sorry, Kudo!! Didn't realize you were in the middle of that!!" 

".. He's having night terrors, I'm trying to keep him from -"

"I saw ya kissing." 

".. I-I just wanted to calm him down.. it was just on the cheek..."

"... Your boyfriend almost killed Hakuba. Isn't that bastard your friend?" 

"Of course he is!! Kaito didn't know what he was doing!!" 

"All right, all right, don't get upset!!" He snapped.

Kaito flinched. He completely froze, turning quite pale.

".. Kaito, Kaito, it's okay..." Shinichi noticed it, petting his hair gently. "It's okay..." 

Heiji turned on his heel, closing the door behind him.

After about an hour, Shinichi had managed to calm down Kaito enough for him to be having a dreamless sleep. Kaito lay on the bed, his entire body limp and his breathing calm and rhythmic.

Shinichi nuzzled into the crook of his neck, finally relaxing and falling asleep.

The next morning came quicker than expected and Kaito was awake earlier than normal. He felt terrible, both physically and mentally. And emotionally. Everything hurt.

He wanted to die.

He didn't move, however. He just sat there and stared at the window past Shinichi's head. It hadn't even registered to him that the teen detective was sleeping with him, but by this point it didn't seem out of the ordinary.

Shinichi's leg moved up, tangling with Kaito's. He made a soft noise, mumbling quietly.

'What the fu-??'

He looked down and saw Shinichi laying dangerously close to him.

Fuck.

Kaito immediately crawled out of bed and walked out of the room. 

He didn't want to be near anyone at the moment.

He didn't want to be near anyone anymore.

Shinichi woke up with the absence of his warmth. 

He looked at him sadly as he left. 

|... ahhh, right... Hattori....| 

He sighed heavily, getting up and reluctantly going to find him.

Hattori was eating breakfast silently. He didn't seem to sleep last night with how bothered he was over the whole situation that had happened yesterday.

Shinichi sat down heavily next to him. 

"... I'm sorry."

"Wanna tell me what happened last night before ya try to apologize ta me?" He squinted. "I know you know what was going on."

".... It's my fault. I should've checked on him, but I didn't... He needed blood again. That's the sort of thing that happens if he goes too long. He's just.. absent. And violent."

Hattori raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think that is?" He asked.

Shinichi sighed heavily. ".. .Maybe you can't believe me, and I can't blame you, but there's a woman who claims to be cursing him.. and she certainly seems to be behind it, somehow..."

Hattori snorted. "A curse?? Like, magic?? Come on, Kudou, are you serious?!"

He looked at him, dead serious. "I wish I could say I wasn't."

Hattori scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat off to the side. "Nah, I guess ya wouldn't lie, would ya?"

"No, I wouldn't. I know how ridiculous it sounds.. but you saw how real it is."

Hattori stared at his breakfast in silence. He was trying to get his mind wrapped around the whole thing.

Then, he asked, "....Has he attacked you?"

Shinichi sighed softly. "... yeah."

"Kudou!!!"

Hattori slammed his hands onto the table. His expression was furious.

"How can you act so calm about it?!? He's attacking people- attacking you! Why are you just sitting around here?!?! Ya need ta go do somethin about it!!!"

"I'm trying to." He sipped his coffee. "... He doesn't know what he's done after. And recently, he managed to stop himself even in that state..."

"That sure didn't look like he was 'stopping himself'!" He exclaimed.

"No, it didn't... but he's angry with me for some reason, so that's probably making it harder... I'm not giving up this case, Hattori."

The Osakan pierced his lips. He knew that the both of them can be stubborn when it came to solving cases. He couldn't deny that.

"At least let me help you then?" He asked.

"Yeah, obviously. Barou."

"Good."

Hattori huffed as he sat down, then went back to scarfing down his breakfast.

Just then, Shinichi saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to look quickly.

Whatever it was, it was gone.

Shinichi finished his coffee. "... I should go check on him... but, Hattori... aah. Just.. thanks."

"You just be careful, Kudou."

He nodded. 

He went back to the bedroom, knocking quietly before letting himself in. "Kaito...?"

There was no one there.

"..." He left quickly, going through the house to search. "Hattori," He rushed in, "Where is Hakuba sleeping?"

"Hm? In his room. Why?" He asked, some food stuffed in his face.

"Where's his room, I don't know my way around. I don't know where Kaito went."

"Wait, who?"

"Kuroba. Where Kuroba went. Come on, he was in a weird mood this morning, I need to find him quickly."

"But I'm in the middle of breakfast!!"

"Hattori!!"

"Okay, okay, fine!"

Hattori set down his breakfast and showed Kudou where Hakuba's room was.

"Here we are," Hattori stated as they stood outside the door. Kaito was still nowhere in sight.

He knocked on the door. "Hakuba? You awake?" He called, urgency in his voice.

No response. It sounded like there was some shifting of bedsheets, however.

"The doctor told me yesterday that he needs to rest his neck, and that included his vocal chords," Hattori stated.

Shinichi opened the door, just to check. He was worried.

Hakuba was laying in bed, reading a book. He looked over towards the door as Kudou entered, an eyebrow raised as if to say "what's the matter now?".

"... sorry, just looking for Kaito... How are you feeling?"

Hakuba shrugged. |Could be better…|

".. Sorry about all this..." He left, closing the door behind him. "... where did the idiot go..."

More movement out of the corner of Shinichi's eye.

"Kaito!!" Shinichi snapped, turning towards the movement quickly. "Stop hiding!!"


	21. Confession Gone Awry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because nothing can be okay for 5 minutes

The figure was gone, most likely ran down the hall.

Shinichi gave chase. "Ohi, Kaito!!"

Hattori followed behind, keeping up with Kudou very easily. They managed to make it to the end of the hallway and came across a set of doors. Four of them. All of them looked the same.

Shinichi took right, trusting Hattori would take left. He started far right, opening it quickly with his hand still on the inner right door. "Kaito!!"

The room was empty. 

Hattori did indeed take the left, as he opened the door opposite from Kudou. 

The room was empty.

"Kaito, come out already!!" Shinichi was getting frustrated.

Silence was what greeted the detectives. Seemed that Kaito didn't want to talk.

"... Why are you ignoring us? Come back out and talk..."

Hattori closed the door he had open. "Kudou, he clearly doesn't wanna talk right now. Why don't you leave him alone for the time being?" he asked.

"....last time I just left him alone, he had a panic attack. I just want to make sure he's okay..."

Hattori gave him a concerned, but understanding look.

".... Let's just... stay together. Preferably with Saguru. And hopefully he'll stay away from Baaya too... ordinarily he wouldn't be a danger, but if he..."

"Yeah, I understand, come on."

The two of them went back to Hakuba's room, where he was getting kind of annoyed that he was being interrupted during his reading.

``Do you mind if we just hang out in here?" He asked

"Why?" Hakuba asked, raising an eyebrow. His voice sounded harsh, like he’d swallowed sandpaper.

"... We can't find Kaito. It seems he doesn't want to talk to us, and last time that happened... Hakuba, do you need some more tea or anything?"

Hakuba sighed. Of course he was.

"That would be nice, thanks," he said, lifting his book back up to his face.

Shinichi nodded, glancing at Heiji like 'please stay with him' and went to make another pot for him.

Hattori let out an annoyed sigh, but stayed in the room with Hakuba.

While Shinichi was making tea, he could hear a loud crash from upstairs. It sounded like glass shattering.

He sprinted upstairs, heart pounding fast. |Please be okay, please be something stupid, please be okay...|

Kaito was found in the bathroom, cleaning his hand. There was glass scattered all over the sink and pieces of it were stuck in his hand. Of course, he was bleeding.

"... Kaito, what have you been doing?!" Shinichi went in the bathroom with him, staring at his bloodied hand.

"Uh, exploring the house?" He said, like it was obvious. He was still pulling pieces of glass out of his hand.

"And why is your hand full of glass?!"

"The real question is why the glass is full of my hand."

"..." He just stared at him. "Why are you like this today?"

"Like what?"

He was obviously playing dumb.

".... You do realize I'm on your side, right? Why are you making it even more difficult for me to help?"

Kaito went back to pulling glass out of his hand. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he stated.

"Kaito..." He grabbed his shoulder, turning him and forcing him to look back at him. "Stop being a dick."

"I'm not doing anything!!" He exclaimed, wincing as his hand accidentally hit the counter.

"You've been actively running and hiding from me. Don't you get how worried I was?! I thought the next time I saw you, you'd - you'd be -"

"I'd be what? Crazy? Unstable? Aren't I already all those things?" He asked.

"Not you. And have you apologized to Hakuba yet?"

Kaito gave Kudou a look of true confusion. "Apologize to him? For what, stealing his swimshorts?" He asked, pulling more glass out of his hand.

"... ah. Well, yesterday, you jumped him... you strangled him, his throat is still hurting..."

Kaito froze. He was horrified.

"......"

_ I knew it. _

_ That feeling I had- I was right. _

_ I shouldn't be here, no. _

_ Not here. _

_ Not anywhere. _

_ I'm hurting people. _

_ Why. _

_ Why. _

_ Why- _

"Oh."

Kaito silently walked past Kudou and headed towards Hakuba's room.

Shinichi followed him, grabbing his arm. "Finish getting the glass out of your hand first."

Kaito didn't turn around.

"Why bother? More is just going to get on it anyway."

He pulled his arm from Kudou's grip and kept walking.

"What the fuck do you mean you're going to get more glass in your hands?!" He chased after him. "You should see a doctor, idiot!!"

"And I should also see a therapist, but they're not going to believe me, either!" He scoffed, throwing his hands to the side.

"He'll believe that you've got glass in your hands, won't he?! Stop saying stupid shit!!"

"I don't really see why you're so worked up? I'm gonna go apologize to Hakuba. What's the problem?" He asked.

"Your hands are bleeding!! Let the doctor take care of that first!!"

"Your arms are completely cut up. I feel like this is fair."

"... Is that why you're hurt? Did you do this on purpose?!" Shinichi was livid. "What the hell kind of justice is that?!"

Kaito shrugged. "Can't say that was entirely the reason, but we'll go with that, sure why not?" He said.

"Then what was the entire reason?!" He was trying his best not to yell, he knew Kaito couldn't do loud noises now, but he was not making it easy.

Kaito frowned, looking away from the teen.

"I.... don't have to tell you that," he said quietly.

"Why not?! If I showed up with glass in my hand you'd want to know, too!!" He snapped.

"Yes, but would you tell me, either??" He yelled back.

"Yes, I would!! I haven't kept anything from you!! But you keep hiding from me like it means nothing!!"

"I'm a phantom thief!!" he exclaimed, "That's what I do!!!"

"You're more than just a thief, you idiot!!!"

Kaito froze. The words felt like a huge slap in the face.

_ What..... _

_ What was that supposed to mean? _

_ What does that mean? _

_ I don't understand. _

Kaito's hands started to shake. He lowered his head and stared at the ground. Unbeknownst to Kudou, he was holding back tears in his eyes.

". . . Should I be just a thief then?" he quietly asked, "Would that make life easier? You could just.... throw me in jail and not have to worry about me ever again."

"........ how did you completely miss the point that much." He moved closer to him. "Kaito, just look at me."

Kaito took a step back.

"Leave me alone."

"... fuck, you're really going to make this as difficult as possible, aren't you." He glared at him. "You want to know why I'm still here?! It's because I fell in love with you, you absolute fucking moron!!!"

Kaito's head snapped up in a flash. His eyes were wide and his face with stricken with horror and confusion. It took him a moment to process what Kudou had said to him.

The great detective. Was in love with him??

. . .  _ Why? _

|Who would fall in love with me??| He began shaking. Everything hurt.

_ Why? _

_ Everything hurts so much. _

Tears began to stream down Kaito's face.

". . . Wh... . .What. .. . ?" he asked, his voice quiet and wavered.

He crossed his arms, blushing hotly and looking away. "... Y-You heard me..."

The magician's breath hitched. He looked down at his shaky hands. "No.... no, I.... I don't believe you...." he whispered.

He looked up, furious, grabbing his arms and pushing him up to the wall. "Look at me. Look at me."

This time, Kaito did look at Kudou. His eyes were looking all around in fear in contrast to the detective's angry, determined eyes. Kaito opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words formed.

"... I am here with you now because I want to be... Because I can't bear to see you suffer, because I want to help you, because I want to be around you... because I have only grown to love you more and more..."

Kaito was speechless. There was nothing he could say, nothing that- that wouldn't make Shinichi lash out with a million different emotions. Tears continued to stream down the boy's face. He couldn't believe it. He just refused to. There was no way- no way the teen felt that way about him. He must be trying to get close to the thief to arrest him, yeah that must be it. There was just...

_ There was just no way... _

_ Was there? _

Kaito suddenly pushed Shinichi away from him. His entire body was shaking now. 

"No!! No, I don't believe you!! I refuse to believe you!!!" he screamed. He clutched his head tight with his non injured hand. "There's gotta be a trick!! You're lying!!" he continued to deny.

Shinichi stared at him. ".... Just like you're not only a thief... I'm not only a detective, Kaito. If I was trying to get you arrested, I would have done so long before now. And you know I've had every opportunity to leave."

Kaito couldn't hear him. He was refusing to listen. He was deep into his own thoughts, his emotions taking over his entire body. He scrunched down into a little ball and hugged himself tight. Everything hurt so bad. 

_ What is happening? _

_ What is this feeling? _

_ Nothing makes sense, I- _

His mind went blank.

Shinichi's blood ran cold. "... Kaito?" 

|Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me-|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let Shinichi Say Fuck


	22. Kid Can't Sit Still

The teen suddenly swung his arm at Shinichi, clawing at the boy's legs. For a moment, Shinichi could see Kaito's eyes: they were dull and glossy amongst the tears he was just shedding. Then, Kaito lunged away from Shinichi and went running down the hall.

Shinichi gave chase, taking out his phone and calling Heiji for backup.

Kaito suddenly took a sharp right up the stairs. Sadly, Hattori did not answer his phone.

"Fucking -" Shinichi called Hakuba, pushing off the wall to make the turn and sprinting right behind him.

Hakuba didn't answer his phone either, mostly because he knew better than to use his vocal chords at the moment. He did, however, send Hattori off to see what was going on. The Osakan just happened to open the door just as Kaito passed.

"What the-??" he blinked.

Shinichi was right behind him, sprinting in an attempt to finally catch him. "I don't know!"

They managed to chase Kaito all the way to the roof, where they found him standing on the edge of the building, facing outwards. He stood there, unmoving, as still as a statue.

"Kaito... Kaito, come back..." Shinichi was scared. Terrified. 

|... If this is Akako... would she really make him jump? And if it's not.... then, I can't predict...|

Kaito took a step. He was now on the ledge. He did not make a noise or turn around. He just stood there.

"Don't-!!" Shinichi ran, just praying he could get to him in time. |... if it's Kid, he can glide... but if that witch is....|

He took a step.

And fell.

Falling.

Falling.

It felt like an eternity. 

He kept his eyes closed, half tempted to let his fate ride on this one instance. 

But it whispered into his ear.

It nagged at him.

So he followed, and released his hang glider.

He flew off.

Shinichi very nearly jumped after him. When he saw the glider, he nearly sobbed in relief. He stood, knees weak, watching him go. He couldn't do anything but hope that he didn't crash.

Hattori had grabbed Shinichi before he had a chance to jump off after the thief. 

"OI!!" he yelled just before he grabbed the teen. He held him in place until the thief was almost out of sight before he let go.

"Take a deep breath before you do anything irrational-" he started.

Shinichi was crying. It was strange... an out of body experience. He was with Kid, he was dead, he was watching himself, he was crying.... he could barely stand. 

"... why can't I help him.... when it was me, he saved me so many times, but when it's my turn.... I just watch him... I hurt him over and over, like an idiot..."

Hattori quietly listened. He didn't know what to say.

".... I told him.... I don't know what I was thinking.... what if I lost him? What if he never comes back, or... or worse, if he attacks someone...."

"Well, ya got two options."

Hattori slowly turned him around and lifted his index finger.

"One: you stay here and wait for him to possibly come back. Or two: you go out and look for him."

"... I can't predict where he'd go... but I really can't sit here and wait...." He wiped his face impatiently. "I'm going."

"Want me to go with you, just in case?" He asked, offering his hand to help Kudou up.

"... Yeah. We can cover more ground....." He took it. ".... thanks."

"Of course!! We're best buds, aren't we?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "Let's go."

Meanwhile, Kaito made a rough landing into a forested area. He fell to the ground with a loud thud while his hand glider was stuck in the tree. He immediately stood up and started walking in a random direction. He had no idea where he was or where he was going.

All he knew was that he had to get away.

 _Get away,_ they said.

 _They're bad,_ they said.

 _Don't look behind you,_ they said.

Kaito's head hurt. So much. It felt like his neck was being constrained. He stumbled around as he walked through the forest.

Shinichi was running and running, calculating the general area where he might've landed. |I hope he's not hurt... I hope he's staying still...|

He finally emerged from the forest. He was completely unaware of where he was. All he did know was that he was in a park of some sort. There were people walking around, enjoying their day. 

Kaito shivered.

He continued walking.

".. Hattori. Is that him?" Shinichi stared intently at him, unsure at this point whether he was hallucinating or not.

Hattori huffed. "Who else looks like you, dude?" he stated.

Kaito was still wandering around, a dazed expression on his face. He clutched his head in his hand.

_Get away._

_They're following you._

_Get away._

"... Go around. He'll probably try to run from me again. I'll wait a minute, then approach him..."

"Got it."

He did as he was told.

_They're near._

_I don't want to hurt them._

_Run away._

_But I...._

Kaito stopped. He rubbed his eyes. Something didn't feel right.

Shinichi walked towards him slowly. "Kaito... can you hear me...?"

Kaito twitched. He froze.

_They found you._

_Run away._

_Run away._

_RUN AWAY._

Kaito ran.

Shinichi gave chase, trying to sort of herd him towards Heiji. |So he can't... or maybe he can and he just can't help it....|

Hattori ran out in front of Kaito, causing the two of them to slam into each other. They both fell to the ground, grasping at their heads.

"Ow..." Hattori complained, quickly standing on his feet. Kaito tried to get up, but he was having trouble getting back on his feet.

Shinichi jumped Kaito, pinning him down to the ground. "Perfect, Hattori... You all right?"

Kaito lashed out, yelling and kicking in all different directions. Hattori walked over, rubbing his head. 

"Yeah, I'm fine, but we should get him out of here before someone calls the cops on us," he said, eyeing the onlookers around them.

"Yeah... Come on, Kaito, calm down a little..." He tried to get up without letting him get away.

Kaito did not let up. He kept kicking around and screaming. He wanted to get away.

"Come on, dude, calm your brother down," Hattori said, a little louder than before.

"I'm trying, but whatever the doctor gave him is really tripping him out!! Here, get his left arm, I'll get his right!"

Hattori reached down and grabbed Kaito's left arm as Shinichi grabbed his right. Kaito was putting up quite a fight, however.

_Please, please!!_

_I don't want to hurt!!_

_No!!_

"I'm going to help you. I'm going to help you." Shinichi promised him over and over. "Come on, you can do it. Just come back with us."

Kaito squeezed his eyes shut. He was shaking terribly.

_Make it stop._

_Make it stop._

_Let me go, make it stop!!_

".... Let's get a cab, Hattori..."

"Alright," Hattori nodded. Kaito stopped lashing out, but he was still trying to run away. Every other minute, he would try to pull himself out of their grip.

Shinichi held on firmly, not giving him a chance to escape. He kept reassuring him, continuously telling him, "It's okay, it's okay.."

Hattori managed to catch a cab and they made their way back to Hakuba's house. Kaito had his eyes shut by this point, and his muscles were so tight that he could barely move.

".. I need a syringe..." He told him, leading Kaito to bed.

"You gonna be okay by yourself?" Hattori asked.

"... probably."

"... okay." Hattori ran off.

As soon as Hattori left, Kaito started to struggle again, lashing out in all directions.

Shinichi laid on top of him, pinning his arms down. "... I do love you. even if you- OW!! make it really fucking difficult..."

Kaito stopped squirming around and stared at Shinichi. His chest was heaving and his eyes were darting all over the place.

_This.... doesn't feel right._

_What's happening?_

_I don't- I don't get it....!!_

Kaito kneed Shinichi in the stomach, then rolled the both of them over so that Kaito was pinning Shinichi down by the arms.

"GH-!!!" He stared up at Kaito, breathing carefully. He didn't struggle against him. 

"... Kaito... I... I just want you to know that I love you. Even if you can't......"

Kaito stared at Shinichi for a moment. The teen squeezed his eyes shut before collapsing onto Shinichi. He wrapped the detective into a tight hug and began to sob. He was done. Done with everything. He was tired, sore, and drained.

Shinichi blinked, then hugged him back, a shaky smile crossing his face. "... hey.... I'm here.... it's okay...."

He was shaking terribly and he was holding onto the other teen like his life depended on it. 

A moment later, Hattori came bursting into the room.

"KUDOU, I-!?" He was stunned at the scene. What on Earth-??

"... he seems a little better..." He smiled slightly. "... um, it seems I'll be here for a while, so... Ah, you've got the syringe, right?"

"Yeah, here," he said, holding it up.

Kaito continued sobbing into Kudou's shirt. He just couldn't calm down at all.

".. Uh, okay... I'm not gonna be able to move, so.. can you do it?"

"Uh... okay...." 

Hattori walked up to the two of them. He stuck the needle into Kudou's arm, making sure to be extra careful with it. He then splattered it onto Kaito's neck.

It took a few moments before Kaito began to sooth down. His shaking calmed down significantly, but tears still continued to flow.

Shinichi brushed his tears away gently as they came, holding him and petting his hair gently. "... Thanks, Hattori..."

"No problem."

Hattori walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Kaito started shivering.

Shinichi pulled the blankets around them, reaching and grabbing a tissue to wipe the blood from his skin and tossing it crumpled onto the floor before hugging him tightly again.

". . . I'm sorry....." Kaito mumbled faintly.

"Hm?" He smiled, cupping his cheek gently. "It's okay..."

He kept mumbling the same words over and over again until he finally passed out.

He shifted a little, laying back against the pillows and letting him rest against his chest. His fingers gently ran through his hair, and he just took the moment to catch his breath.

Kaito snuggled into Shinichi, searching for warmth.

He pulled the blankets up around his neck snugly, then continued petting his hair gently. |I love you...|

Sometime later, Shinichi fell asleep. The next morning, Kaito stayed asleep for most of the morning. He was very tired.

He stayed with him, getting his phone out and searching. |... let's see what kind of thing might break the curse... at least, according to the internet....|

Shinichi started with blood curses, but wasn't exactly getting what he wanted. So, he went a little more specific. After some time searching, he came across a small excerpt from some weird website about witches and red magic.

_Red magic is the magic of emotion and love, and powerful spells of this type tend to involve one's blood (whether it be the caster or the victim). Only skilled magicians use this type of magic nowadays, and even then its rarely used._

_Underneath the excerpt said: "IF CASTED BY BLOOD MAGIC"_

_Blood magic has DANGEROUS side effects to the one it was casted on. It effects both the mind and the body in dangerous ways. Be careful when using this type of magic._

"No shit, but how do I get rid of it?" He grumbled, continuing to read. His hand continued to pet him, automatically at this point.

The site didn't site any specific "cures" or anti spells; it simply said to look for them in the book the spell came from, then it listed a bunch of generic spell books.

"Well, that's just perfect," he grumbled angrily.

Kaito shifted slightly in his sleep. 

A knock rang on the door.

"Come in," he called quietly.

Hakuba walked in, quietly closing the door behind him. He looked a whole lot better than yesterday.

"Decided to keep everyone here until we get all of this fixed," he stated without prompt, "Which means we'll be staying out of school for some time. Already made calls to your parents, so it'll be fine."

".... thank you... You look way better than before..." Shinichi smiled, relieved. "Good to see."

"Yeah, well, I don't feel better. Especially with the Osakan around."

Hakuba's expression matched his tone.

"Mhm." He looked down at Kaito. |Wonder when he'll wake...|

"How's Kuroba?" Hakuba asked.

Kaiti was still soundly asleep; his face would twitch every once in awhile.

"... once he settled down, he's been pretty peaceful...."

". . . We're going to need a better way to restrain him in those moments," Hakuba said. He didn't quite look happy on the statement.

".... I was hoping we could solve this before it came to that... but you may be right...." Shinichi looked very unhappy.

"I'll see what I can come up with. In the meantime, we should keep him in this room."

Kaito rolled over to his other side.

Shinichi lifted his hands to let him get comfortable, then settled down next to him again. ".. I feel like we've gotten nowhere..."

"Well, maybe if he were to tell us some things about this stupid curse, we could help him more," Hakuba huffed.

"He can't. And don't make him try.. She nearly killed him last time, and I'm not sure what will happen next, so don't.... sorry. Sorry. I'm... I feel the same way you do."

"Nearly... killed him?" Hakuba raised an eyebrow in question, "How so?"

"... He was being choked. Nothing was there, but.. he went through every stage of strangulation, up to and including unconsciousness."

Hakuba gave the teen a questioned look. "That's.... odd. Something the curse does?" 

"I have to assume so... I've investigated every other possibility I could think of."

"What are you investigating....?"

Kaito was awake, rubbing his eye. He looked as if he only had two hours of sleep, and he certainly felt like it, too.

Hakuba decided that was his cue to leave. "I'll look into finding something to keep him in place," he said as he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> image credit goes to sup-poki on tumblr!!


	23. Brekkie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm tired of thinking of titles

Shinichi nodded, petting Kaito. "...Good morning, Kaito..."

Kaito flinched at the touch, but after a second it felt.... soothing? Why?? 

"I wanna go back to sleep...." he moaned, laying his head back down on his pillow.

"... you must be really exhausted... Go ahead, I won't stop you..." He told him softly. "I'm glad you're more yourself today..."

"I guess...."

He didn't feel like himself. He wasn't admitting it, but everything inside hurt. He felt like he was just run over by a bus. The teen closed his eyes.

".. are you in pain?" |His voice sounded heavy....| "Do you need anything?"

"Nah, I'm just tired..."

He rolled over onto his side, allowing his back to face Shinichi.

"... can I just check? I didn't see how hard you crashed..." Shinichi gently began to lift up his shirt beneath the covers.

"Woah- WOAH!!" Kaito quickly grabbed at his shirt to keep it down.

"I'm fine!! I'm not hurt okay?? I'm just tired, okay?" He assured, flustered.

"Hey, I'm just checking, relax! I didn't want to do it while you were sleeping..." He grumbled.

"Well, don't worry about it...."

He buried his face under the covers.

"Tch... didn't know Kid could be so shy," he mumbled, laying down next to him. "I've been up a while.. I'm just going to sleep."

Kaito didn't respond. It wasn't that he was shy; for one thing, he had personal boundaries. But with Meitantei.... it just felt different. Especially after he-....

The magician closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep once more.

Shinichi waited a long time, then carefully checked his body for any serious injuries. There were some decent bruises along his body and small scratches, but no large injuries. He pulled his shirt down again, blushing. 

|.... how is he still so toned....|

Kaito shivered. He was cold...

Shinichi cuddled up to him, wrapping an arm around him. He closed his eyes, feeling strangely lucky.

About an hour or two later, Kaito was warm and shaking in his sleep.

Shinichi got up, getting the syringe from before and getting a little bit of blood before letting it drip on his neck.

Kaito tensed up for a moment before relaxing.

He sighed softly. |... at least it's easier, this way....|

Just then, Shinichi's phone buzzed. He received a text.

He groaned, rolling over and grabbing his phone to look.

[Dude, breakfast is downstairs!! Come down an’ eat, man!] It was Hattori.

[i can't i have to be here in case he wakes up] he texted back.

[Wake him up then! He needs to eat too. I dont think either of you ate yesterday.]

"I don't know if I can," he sighed, speaking aloud. But he tried anyway, gently shaking his shoulder. "Kaito... get up, it's time to eat..."

Kaito stirred. "Hmm.....? Wha....?" He mumbled, half asleep.

"Get up, it's time for breakfast," he grumbled.

"I'm not hungry...." he mumbled some more, burying his head into his pillow.

"Come on, it's been too long since you've eaten," he insisted.

Kaito only let out a grumble. He really didn't feel hungry, even though he knew he hadn't eaten in awhile.

"... get up or.. I'll kiss you.."

Kaito paused. He slowly lifted his head and looked at Shinichi. "Did you just.... threaten to kiss me?" He asked, deadpanned.

"Mhm." He looked straight back at him, smirking a little.

Kaito buried his face into his pillow, trying to cover up the flush in his face. "Okay, fine, I'll go eat," he said, crawling out of bed.

"Mmm... and here I was hoping we could stay in bed," he teased, forcing himself up as well.

"You didn't give much choice, dumbass."

"Sure, sure... It'd be repulsive, right?" He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Let's just get to breakfast, then."

"Yeah, yeah."

The two walked downstairs, where Hattori was just finishing his breakfast. "Yo, Kudou! Come and eat, man!" he smiled. 

Kaito grumbled to himself and walked over to a seat, somewhat away from Hattori. Not that he would admit it, but he was kind of jealous of the Osakan, and thus didn't quite like him at the moment.

Shinichi glanced at Kaito, noticing something was off. "... Hey, Hattori. Thanks."

"Ya gonna sit down or what?" he asked. One of the staff came out and sat some breakfast in front of Kaito, who thanked them before they walked away. The magician picked up his fork and picked at the food. He seemed bored with it already.

He sat next to Katio, looking worried. "Mhm."

"Good! You better eat. If the girls found out you weren't taking care of yourself very well, they would have a flipshit," he said, standing up out of his chair. He walked over and ruffled up Shinichi's hair. "I'm gonna go see Kazuha, so I'll be out of the house for a bit. Just text me if you need anything, okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course. See you later, Hattori."

Hattori waved as he left the room, leaving Shinichi and Kaito alone. At one point, a staff member brought out food for Shinichi, but it was otherwise quiet. Kaito still hadn't eaten a piece of food.

"... come on... Try to eat something..." Shinichi told him quietly.

"I told you, I'm not hungry..." he mumbled, not looking up to the teen next to him.

"... is there some kind of problem between you and Hattori...?"

"Huh?" That made Kaito look up. He gave Shinichi a look of confusion. "What makes you say that?"

|It's not like I don't like him.... I just.... don't like his vibe... that's all....|

"... You gave him a weird look, that's all..."

"Probably just your imagination."

"Except that it wasn't. So. What's the problem?"

"Nothing."

Kaito finally took a bite of food, hoping to get out of the conversation. He knew it was expertly made and was supposed to be bursting with flavor but....

It was bland.

"... Kaito. Is there something... Is there anything you're not telling me?"

"No?"

What was he talking about?

".... Okay. Let's... Let's try something different, after this. Something to break this curse..."

Kaito took another piece of food and shoved it into his mouth. Still tasteless.

"Something different? Like what?" he asked.

".. I'm not sure. Anything. Let's try some stupid ideas."

"Stupid i- Like what??" he was shocked and confused. This was the best that the great detective could come up with???

"Again, trial and error. I want to try everything I can before..."

". . . Before, what?"

".... the last resort. Obviously... if we can't break it, we'll have to go back to her again."

Kaito let out a dry laugh. "Oh, I thought you meant you were going to put me down," he laughed.

"Wh- don't even say that!!"

"Why? Am I wrong?"

"Yes!! Of course you're wrong!!!"

Kaito leaned his head to the side, giving a sad smile to his food.

"Alright," he said, taking another bite.

It was still bland.

"... Why would you think that?" He asked him, extremely disturbed by his casual suggestion.

The teen shrugged. "I don't know. Probably because that's usually what's left unsaid when spoken in movies?" He suggested.

"This isn't a movie..." Shinichi didn't have any appetite anymore.

"It was a joke, don't worry so much on it." Kaito took another bite of his food.

Nothing.

"...." Shinichi took a deep breath and let it out, deciding to let it go for now. "... How's the food?"

"Bland."

It was an immediate answer.

"... Bland? ... Kaito, are you catching a cold?” 

"Huh? No, I don't feel sick....?"

Was he sick? He felt fine.... Well, that was a lie. He felt weird, but he didn't feel sick?

"... okay." He watched him, worried.

Kaito took one last bite of the food before he finally gave up on it. He looked over to Shinichi and saw he hadn't touched his food either.

"Aren't you going to eat?" He asked, pointing st the detective's plate.

He shook his head slightly. "... it's delicious, but... I'm not too hungry..."

Kaito squinted. "And you were on me about not eating," he stated.

".... I was worried. And now I'm just.. not hungry."

"Worried about what??" Kaito asked, as if he were oblivious.

"About you, idiot."

"Why~?"

".... are you just. obligated to mess with me at every given opportunity?"

"Maybe~"

"Tch...." He ate another bite.

"Hm."

Kaito smiled at Shinichi's annoyed face. He stood from his chair.

"I'm going to go take a shower and go back to the room," he said, walking off.

"... right..." He watched him go, then laid his head on the table beside his place. |.... I'm so tired of worrying so much....|


	24. AOOOOOOKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As Kaito walked towards a bathroom with a shower in it, he realized- Did they have any of their clothes here?? Kaito ran back to Shinichi and about slammed into the table.

"Kudou!! We need our clothes from our houses!!" he exclaimed.

"Eh?? What?? Why??"

"I don't want to wear the same clothes the whole time I'm here! Especially if Hakubaka isn't gonna let us leave!!" he said.

"Then borrow Hakuba's clothes, we're all roughly the same size!" He rolled his eyes.

"Ew, gross, no! It was gross enough to wear his swim trunks! I'm going to wear my own clothes!" he pouted.

"Well, those are your options!"

"Why can't we just go out to our houses and get our clothes??" he asked.

"Because I haven't gotten my coffee yet!!!"

Kaito let out a long groan. "Oh my God!! Just get your coffee fix and let's go!!!" he cried.

"Don't rush me!!!"

"But I want a showerrrrrr!!!"

"His clothes are clean, you know?! It doesn't matter that much!!"

"Yes it does!!"

"Uggghhhh...."

Kaito grabbed Shinichi's chair and began to rock and forwards and backwards. "Come onnnnn!!!" he whined, "Pleaseeee???"

"Ack-!!! Stop that!! Cut it out!!"

"I won't stop until you agree!!!"

"Noooooo!! Just stooooop!!" 

Hakuba walked in, looking mystified. ".... Um. Is everything all right?"

Kaito looked over at Hakuba, annoyed. "Tantei doesn't wanna let me go to my house and get some clothes!!" he explained.

"Well, you're welcome to borrow some of mine," he sighed. "I have a lot I've never even worn..."

Kaito slammed his fists on the table. "No!! I'm not going to wear someone else's clothes when I don't have to!" he barked.

"Why do you care so much??" Shinichi whined.

"Becauuuseeee!!"

In all honesty, he wanted to get out of the house. He figured the rest of the boys were going to keep him under lock and key until all of this was settled, so he was trying to grasp at straws. Savor the last moments of freedom before he loses his sanity forever by pure boredom.

"Uggh..... Fine....." Shinichi grumbled.

"YES!!" Kaito ran off towards the entrance of the house, where his jacket and shoes lay.

"... like some kinda puppy..." Shinichi grumbled, slowly getting up and following him.

Hakuba rolled his eyes. "Just humor him for a little while. I'm still looking into things," he said.

He nodded, sighing. "We'll be back soon."

"Alright, I'll be here if you need my assistance."

He nodded. "Thank you, Hakuba..." He hurried off to the door.

At the door, he was greeted by a bouncing Kaito, who was already wearing his shoes and jacket, and his glasses to boot.

Shinichi sighed, pulling on his own shoes. "Feeling cooped up, huh?"

Kaito stopped bouncing and stared at the teen. "N-noo....?"

"Mph. I am. Come on, let's get the clothes."

Kaito pouted. "You detectives are never any fun," he said, walking out the door.

As he turned, Shinichi was reminded of the blood on the boy's neck, as it was obviously still there.

"Ah, wait, Kaito," He caught his hand. "Come on, let's wash your neck off."

"H-huh?" he snapped back, confused. He reached to his neck and felt around.

"What's wrong with my-??"  _ When did that get there??? _

"You got hot in your sleep, obviously. Come on, let's wash you up."

"See, this is why I wanted to take a shower!" he complained.

"I told you you should and just borrow clothes!! Even Hakuba told you to!!!"

"Look, I'm dead set on just using my clothes, so just let's get this over with so we can get get them!!"

"Fine!!" He dragged him into the bathroom, pushing him against the wall and grabbing a washcloth.

"Woah!!" Kaito was a little surprised on how rough the detective was being. Did he piss him off that much?

"Hey, easy, Tantei!" he exclaimed.

"Hmph." He wrung it out and gently scrubbed at his skin.

".... Did I really make you that make angry?" He asked quietly.

".... no..." He answered softly. ".... I'm sorry.... I'm.. going crazy, being stuck on this case...."

".... I've told you before that you can leave, you know."

"I can't. I already told you why." He took a different cloth and gently wiped his neck dry. ".... and even knowing you.. the way you think of me, it still doesn't change anything. I'll get you out of this if it's the last thing I do."

_ The way you think of me. _

What did that mean? What does he think of the detective? What could Shinichi know that he didn't?

"It better not be the last thing you do," he glared at the wall in front of him, afraid of moving in case the teen behind him would snap, "I would bring you back to life just to personally kill you."

His hand stopped moving against his neck. Then it was gone, and he was putting the cloth to dry on the tub. He said nothing.

Kaito still didn't move. He wasn't sure what the detective might do.

"... so?" His voice broke, very very slightly. "Aren't you ready to go now?"

"U-uh, yeah, I guess?" He said, turning around.

"Then go!" He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Hurry up!"

Kaito shrunk as he walked out of the bathroom. He didn't know why, but he felt really hurt by Tantei's tone. More hurt than he normally would.

|Well, shit.| 

Shinichi followed him out. "... When we get going, just let me hold your hand. I don't want any weird surprises..."

"What?" Kaito looked at Shinichi with a very confused look. "I'm not a child. What do you need to hold my hand for??"

"Because!! I need to make sure you're doing okay!!"

Kaito rolled his eyes. "You're like a doting parent. I'll be fine, Dad!" He sighed, walking out the doorway.

"It's not like that, barou!!" He followed, grumbling. "I want to feel if you get warm, that's all!!"

"That's kinky," Kaito smirked.

"Is not!! Baka!! "

Kaito smiled a Cheshire grin. "Whatever you say, boss!"

"Hmph..." He grumbled.

They ended up heading a different direction than to where the house they were at before was. Kaito had planned to take this time to talk to Aoko as well, so they headed to his actual house.

".... What are we doing...?" He asked quietly.

"Getting my clothes, I told you that," he answered.

"Mhm... I mean, you seem preoccupied..."

"Oh... Well, I wanted to stop by someplace while we were out. It's on the way."

"Oh? Where?"

"A friend's."

They finally ended up in front of his house. The place looked like no had one lived in it in years. Kaito took a glance next door with some dread. Would she be mad at him?

Kaito pointed to his house and said, "Go wait inside, I'll be right back. The key is on the front porch." Before Shinichi could respond, he started to head over to Aoko's.

"... well, I hate that," he decided, following him.

Kaito walked into the house, looking around for Aoko or her dad.

"Yo, Aoko? You home?" He called out.

"Kaito?" He could hear her going through the closet to get her mop. "Where have you been?"

"Hakuba's. Long story. Come down here so we can talk!"

She came around, taking her mop with her. "... okay."

Kaito himself looked beat up. He was tired, as much as he wasn't trying to show it. He smiled as he saw that she was fine.

"Hey," he smiled, "How's your dad?"

She put her mop down, leading him to the table to sit down and grabbing her first aid kit. "He's fine, but why do you have bruises all over you??"

Kaito shrugged. "I think I fell out of a tree," he replied casually.

"You think??? Bakaito!!"

The magician held up his hands in defense. "Hey, look, it's been a long week, okay?" He said.

She frowned, sitting next to him. "Explain," she demanded.

"Well, I don't really remember falling out of the tree, to be honest-"

"What do you remember?" She asked, grabbing the mop again.

"Would you put down the mop already?! It's really threatening!"

"That's the point, Bakaito. Tell me."

"I remember...." 

What DID he remember? He had a vague recollection of running around the house that day, but... that was it.

"To be honest, I don't remember much at all that day. Everything was a vague blur," he answered honestly.

".... Don't you know anything?" She worried. "Should I call a doctor?"

Kaito waved his hands in front of him. "No, don't worry, I've already talked to a doctor about it!" He said. Well, it wasn't an entire lie, that's for sure.

"... are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired. What about you? Are you and your dad okay?" he asked, trying to change the subject

"... worried, obviously... you've been acting really strange lately, Kaito..."

"It's... a very long story that's overly complicated.... We're trying to figure it out, but it's not going too well...." he sighed. He knew she wouldn't believe him even if he could explain what was going on.

".... well.... who's we?"

"I have an over protective, nagging detective on my back who's taken this as a "case"," he stated. He laid his head on the table. Man, he was tired.

".... detective.... Hakuba-kun?" She questioned. The mop was finally put down and she petted his head gently. "... bakaito.... we could help you too, you know...."

"I wish you could...." he mumbled quietly. He closed his eyes. He knew it was a bad idea; he knew he could easily fall asleep right there and then. He didn't care. He was in a familiar place with familiar people. He felt comfortable at the moment.

"... I will... you know I will if you let me...."

Kaito let out a deep sigh. He couldn't tell her; there were so many reasons why he couldn't. And it hurt him inside. He wanted to scream and cry and let all of his frustrations out until he couldn't anymore. 

But he couldn't.

He couldn't do anything.

So he sat there, leaning his head against the table with his eyes closed and allowed Aoko to rub his hair. 

He accidently fell asleep.

Aoko got up not long afterwards to answer the knocking at her door. "...Who are you?" 

"... I came to meet Kaito, is he still here?"

"Yes, he's... Oh, wait! You're that guy Kaito was with last time I saw him, aren't you?" She exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah!" He nodded, peeking over her shoulder. "Aaah, did he finally fall asleep? Idiot..." He went inside, slipping off his shoes.

"A-a-ah!! Hey!!" She cried, chasing after him. She grabbed his arm before he could reach Kaito.

"Who are you, anyway?!" She asked, a little peeved that he just barged into her house.

"A friend of Kaito's," he smiled apologetically. "A detective."

"So you're the detective he was talking about?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. It was obvious she was looking him down. She wanted to know who this guy was for real and why Kaito suddenly decided to hang out with him.

"So, tell me. What's going on with Kaito, huh?!"

"He's... seen something he wasn't meant to. So to keep him safe. we're hiding him until everything goes back to normal," he told her in a reassuring tone. "Hopefully it won't be very long."

"Seen something?!" Oh, now she was very worried. "What did that idiot do now?!?"

"Don't worry," He smiled. "He'll be all right. We just came to get some of his clothes."

Aoko stared at him, trying to read if he was telling the truth or not.

He looked at her in perfect honesty, determined.

She stared at him a little longer before reaching into her pocket and grabbing her phone. She pulled it out and shoved it to Shinichi, saying, "I want tabs on him."

He gave her his number and handed it back to her gently. "Absolutely."

She let out a long sigh before looking over to Kaito. "I haven't seen him like this since his dad passed away," she spoke softly.

".... He's been in a rough spot with just the stress of it, but he's really okay," he lied.

"What was he doing that he just fell out of a tree, anyway??" she asked, still peeved about that whole scenario.

"I.. really couldn't say," Shinichi laughed a little.

Aoko gave him a look of disbelief. "Haah?? How could you NOT know?? Aren't you keeping an eye on him???"

"Well, sure, but you know him," he shrugged. "He just decides on things sometimes...."

Aoko sighed. She visibly relaxed slightly. "Yeah, I guess," she agreed. She glanced back over to Kaito, who was still sleeping away. She looked back to Shinichi and asked, "Did you want a drink or something? It looks like he's not waking up anytime soon."

"Thank you, but I shouldn't stay long... he shouldn't either." He put a hand on Kaito's shoulder gently. "Kaito... come on, time to get up.."

Kaito let out a small groan as he was shaken, but didn't wake up. 

"Here, I got this," Aoko said, gently shoving Shinichi aside. She took a deep breath and-

"WAKE UP, KAITO!!!!!!" she screamed into his ear. 

Kaito practically jumped out of his chair, snapping instantly awake. He looked at her, confused and annoyed. 

"What do you want, Aoko!? It's too early in the morning for this..." he groaned.

Shinichi jumped, too. "... Kaito, it's getting pretty late. Let's go get your clothes."

Kaito looked over at Shinichi, confused. "When did you get here?" he asked.

"Not long ago. Come on, it's time to go."

Kaito flopped his head back onto the table. "Naaah.... Think I'm just gonna stay here, instead," he said. Aoko puffed out her cheeks and pulled Kaito out of the chair.

"Come on, Kaito! You gotta go, or you'll get in trouble!" she said.

"Ow, ow! Okay, I get it!" he cried.

Shinichi grinned at her. "Nice. Hope to see you soon!"

Aoko smiled. "It was nice meeting you."


	25. Blue

Kaito and Shinichi walked out of the house. Kaito was rubbing his cheek as they made their way next door. 

"I'm surprised you didn't get beat up by her," he said as he opened the door to the house.

"Eh? She seemed so nice," he smirked.

"What do you mean, "nice"??" he exclaimed as they walked in. The house needed dusting since he’d been absent so long. 

"Okay, give me two seconds, I just have to run up to my room and grab some stuff," he said as he ran upstairs to his room.

"Fine..." He looked around the house curiously, looking for family photos and just general clues about him.

"And don't you go snooping around my stuff!!" he yelled out from down the stairs. He knew full well what the detective would do.

"Not likely!" He smirked, continuing to snoop.

"I swear to God, Tantei kun!!"

"Does he know you?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Kaito walked into his room. He immediately looked at the poster of his father on the wall and smiled sadly. 

"Hey, Dad. Haven't seen you in awhile. Sorry I've been gone. Crazy stuff has happened..." he said to the poster, "But as soon as I figure all this out, I'll get back on the horse and keep trying to push at my goals!" He tried to sound cheerful, but he just didn't have the energy to do so. Kaito walked over to his dresser and grabbed some clothes, placing them neatly on the bed. He then went over and grabbed a bag to stuff them in. 

He took one last look at the poster on the wall. 

"See you later, Dad."

He left the room and dashed over to his bathroom, grabbing his hair and tooth brush before finally running back downstairs.

"Ready to go?" Shinichi looked at him, hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. You didn't snoop, did you??"

"Of course I snooped," he scoffed.

"Jeez, I told you not to! I'm never inviting you here again!" he huffed, heading towards the door.

"Mph." He walked with him. ".. You all right?"

"Yeah, just tired," he yawned.

"Mm... then let's go..."

They started to walk home in silence. After some time, Kaito asked, "So, what did you find, Detective?"

"... just a few little things... You don't often use your kitchen. You don't have many family pictures around the house, and you don't seem to have any siblings. You're careless when you take off your shoes, you don't often have people over but the house is kept neat anyway, and your mother keeps a lot of makeup and hair product here, some of which you use."

Kaito gave Kudou a weird look. "Why the hell would you assume the last part?" he asked.

"Based on what's dusty, what's organized, and what's put back more carelessly."

". . . You were able to figure all that out in that short amount of time."

"Well, you know, I just glanced around," He shrugged.

Kaito just shook his head in shame. "That's terrible, Tantei kun, just terrible."

"Eh? Did I get something wrong?"

"No, you as a being are terrible."

".... hmph." He frowned.

"Well, what were you expecting??"

".... makes me miss Hakuba," he grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean??" Kaito huffed.

"Detectives have appreciation for detectives, that's what it means."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Detectives and magicians are like, complete opposites. One creates beauty and the other tears it down for fun."

He blinked. "... It's not exactly like that, you know. Besides, what's the point of creating beauty without an audience to enjoy it?"

Kaito shook his head. "I-....." 

W-what was I saying....? Something about.....?

Kaito grabbed his head. Everything suddenly began to spin. He reached out blindly for something to hold him up as he began to topple over.

"Kaito!!" Shinichi caught him, hauling him up to stand. "... Barou, you should've told me... come on, we have to hurry home..."

"N-no, I'm fine...." he mumbled. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping it would help stop the spinning.

"What's wrong, what are you feeling?" Shinichi kept walking, basically dragging him along.

"Ah....I....feel fine....I swear...."

He was clutching his head tightly.

".... let's just try to make it home..."

They slowly, but surely made it back to Hakuba's. Hattori was the first to greet them, already freaking out about where they had gone.

"Dude!! Are you alright, Kuroba?!" He exclaimed, giving the teen a hand. Kaito didn't answer. His head was still spinning and he was trying his hardest not to throw up what breakfast he had eaten earlier that day.

"Bathroom," Shinichi said urgently, thankful for Heiji's help. "Get him there... aah, and I'll..." 

Hattori nodded, "Got it."

"What happened?" Saguru appeared, looking worried.

"Hakuba, could Baaya make him some soup? And I think he's gonna need a bedroom with a bath attached." 

Kaito shook his head. He didn't need the guys babying him. Why was he so dizzy anyway? Why did everything hurt?

Saguru nodded. "There's one on the first floor, I'll tell Baaya and get it ready. Fill me in later." 

"You got it."

Hattori followed Shinichi to the room Hakuba told them about with Kaito in tow. The magician had no idea what was going on by that point. Everything was blurry and spinning and-.... 

He was almost out of it completely.

Shinichi gently set him down on the bed, feeling his forehead. ".. Kaito? Can you hear me?"

Kaito was quite warm. His breathing was slightly staggered. His eyes were squeezed shut and his muscles were tense. He didn't respond to Shinichi.

"Does he need-?" Hattori asked, still completely in the dark about what was going on.

"...I think so. Yeah." Shinichi went into the bathroom and returned with a safety razor. "Don't tell Hakuba." He stripped off his shirt and cut over his chest, pressing Kaito's hand to it.

Hattori was about to give a retort, but the damage was already done. The Osakan wasn't too happy, but he agreed to not say anything to Hakuba. Well, unless it got serious or out of hand. He wasn't that dumb.

After a moment, Kaito seemed to relax slightly, but it was obvious he was still in pain. His head had slowed down its spinning for him to open his eyes and figure out what was going on. He glanced around, his eyes clearly dazed.

"Wh-....where....?" he managed to mumble.

"Ehi...." He smiled softly at him, gently feeling his forehead. "... How're you feeling...?"

"......Dizzy....." he mumbled. He tried to look at Shinichi, but he couldn't keep his eyes focused. 

"I'll go grab the doctor, then," Hattori said, walking out of the room.

Shinichi nodded, getting up to clean the blood off of Kaito and then himself. He got his shirt on just before Saguru re entered the room. "How is he doing?"

"Running a fever... he's not terribly lucid."

"... Right. The doctor's on her way...."

"I said I'm.... fine, you know....." he practically whispered. He didn't normally get sick. Last time he did, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as this was.

Saguru looked at him. ".... Okay. Well, I'm still going to get you checked, if that's all right."

Although Kaito was very out of it, he could still give shit to Hakuba.

"No, it's not.... alright.... Hakubaka....." he attempted to smirk.

"Mhm... then, you'll have to punish me later." He glanced after Hattori for an indecipherable moment, then sat at his side and took his hand.

"Why is.... everything spinning, anyway...?" He asked. He closed his eyes, hoping the spinning would stop.

"... you need to rest." His eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Kaito paused for a moment.

"I need to take a shower," he said, trying to sit up. If he weren't so out of it, he would've been sleeping by now.

He pushed him back down gently. "Rest," He insisted.

Kaito was about to retort, but his head started spinning faster. The spinning finally became too much and his mind shut down, causing Kaito to finally pass out.

The doctor arrived to look him over. She told them to make sure he rested and kept well hydrated, and to call her if the fever got worse.

Hattori had popped back into the room for a moment, but he figured he wasn't really needed. He told them that he'd be in his room if they needed him, and he walked out.

Shinichi laid beside Kaito. "... as if you didn't have enough problems already...."

Hakuba lad let go of Kaito's hand once the doctor came in. After Shinichi laid down, Hakuba went towards the door.

"I have some things to do. You know how to get ahold of me if you need me," he said as he walked out.

He nodded, then closed his eyes. |.... we've got to do something.....|


	26. Red

"Well, isn't that a predicament."

Akako was looking though her glass ball, watching as the two boys fell asleep. She wasn't quite expecting Kuroba to get sick, seeing as he's rarely sick to begin with.

"I suppose it's another side affect of the curse," she hummed, strumming her fingernails on the desktop next to her. She looked over at the table she was strumming. There lay a thick book, written in an ancient language.

"I suppose I can give the detective a hint as to what I want," she smiled. She grabbed a piece of paper and began to write. 

Shinichi groaned, unlocking the phone to look reluctantly.

It was Hattori.

[Hey, Kudou! Sorry I gotta text ya, but I didn't want to wake you up. Kazuha and I are heading back to Osaka right now. Our parents are kinda pissed that we're missing school. Good luck to ya, man!]

He sighed heavily. |...... great.|

[Good luck, Hattori]

Although Shinichi did not receive a response back from Hattori, Kaito stirred slightly in his sleep next to the detective. He seemed to be doing a lot better than yesterday, seeing as the doctor was nice enough to give him medicine while she was here.

Shinichi felt his forehead gently. "..... hm..."

He was a bit warm, but not dangerous warm.

There was a crow perched on the windowsill. It seemed to have a piece of paper coiled up on a piece of string that was tied around its neck. It knocked on the window once more, letting out a loud caw.

He hesitated, watching it before carefully opening the window.

It sat there and stared at the teen, as if it were waiting for something. It gave a look of judgement. What a sassy bird.

".... what?" He frowned. "Don't tell me, you're here to predict someone's death or something."

"Caw!!" It poked at the paper next to it.

"Tch...." Mistrustfully, he took the paper and read it.

As soon as the paper was off of it, the bird took off in a rush, cawing so loudly, it was almost as if it was trying to be annoying.

Opening the paper, it read:

_ 'Hello, detective. _

_ I see you're in a bit of a pickle, what with Kuroba being sick and having little to no leads. I'll tell you what I wanted when I placed him on this curse: his love. He knows it, it's not like he's oblivious to it. He just refuses to accept his face. Just get him to pronounce his love to me and I'll lift the curse! It's that simple~!' _

Below was more writing, but it was written in an ancient that Kudou couldn't understand.

"..... he has to pronounce his love, huh.... well...."

He looked at him. |... is there someone you do like, Kaito? Not me or Akako.... maybe that girl who cares so much?|

Kaito shifted slightly in his sleep in response.

Shinichi sat at his bedside again, feeling his forehead as an excuse to touch him. |.... I want you to go. I don't want to be around you if you really can't take me...... but...|

"Am I warm again....?"

Kaito's eyes opened slightly. He looked at Shinichi with innocent, dazed eyes.

"... how are you feeling?" He took his hand away, looking away.

"Tired... What do you have there?" He asked, seeing the piece of paper in his hand.

"... nothing. Kaito... Is there someone you like?"

Kaito's face went a slightly deeper tint of red. "W-what?! Why would ask that??" he stumbled, averting eye contact. Who just asks that??

|Besides... I don't.... I wouldn't even know how to answer that question....|

"Well, given we're working with a curse, it seems like the most classic example of a cure."

"Haven't we gone though this conversation before?" he asked.

"And you didn't give me a good answer. So have you thought about it at all? I'll help set you up so you can confess to whoever."

"Well...." 

He took a second to think about how he wanted to word his response.

"For the longest time, I had thought.... it was Aoko, but...."

|Augh, this is hard to explain!! I'm still too tired to be doing this.|

"... Well, did it turn into someone else?" He sighed. "I mean, if you like Akako, it'd be the easiest..."

Kaito almost laughed. "As much as she would like that, I don't like Akako that way," he said.

"Mmm. Well, who do you like then? Come on, just tell me."

Kaito avoided eye contact. "Is this really the best time to be asking about this?" he asked, trying to bury himself under his covers.

"Yes, it's the perfect time. Now come on, there's someone, right? I'm not going to make fun of you, just tell me."

Kaito didn't answer. He didn't really have an answer. He honestly was still trying to figure everything out. Who did he like? Sure, he loved Aoko, but he figured that even if she did love him back, she would immediately reject him due to his "night job". That thought of a rabbit hole scared him even more.

No, I don't want to think about this right now.

I don't have an answer.

".... We have to try...." he said quietly. |... As if this didn't hurt enough already.... quit dragging it out...|

Kaito remained silent. He couldn't answer. Not until he figured out what his answer was.

He sighed in frustration. "I'm trying to help you."

"I know, I know," Kaito mumbled, "I just... don't have an answer yet..."

"Well... figure it out. It's the only thing I can think of besides going to her."

Being pressured from different angles was not feeling good for Kaito. Everything hurt way too much at the moment. All he wanted to do was sleep.

A thought just washed over him: why has he been so tired lately? Was it because he was sick? Was he getting sick because of the curse??

|I need to get rid of this curse, and fast.|

"..... Are you all right?"

".....I don't know anymore, Tantei...." Kaito sighed.

Is your head still spinning?"

"No...." It wasn't a lie.

".. okay. You should probably bathe... ah, right, I'll get a syringe first..."

Kaito sat up slowly. He took a deep breath as to make sure he didn't get dizzy or anything.

"Can we eat first...? I'm.... actually hungry today..." he asked.

"Yeah, of course. What would you like?" He got up.

"I don't know... food?" It was a crummy joke, but at this level of sickness, he found it funny.

"Okay, one food coming up." He gave him a slight smile and left the room.

It was really overwhelming... loving him, not loved back. Maybe even despised... and no wonder, since he couldn't help him, couldn't do anything for him, just kept making things worse...

Instead of going to the kitchen, he headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and looking for something sharp. |... when I had that pain... it let me really think, get out of this stupid fog... I'll only do it a little bit...|

Kaito grabbed his head with both his hands and snapped his eyes shut. He was still thinking about who he liked the most. Even if he did figure out who he liked, would it really help him?? Maybe he would just have to accept his fate and go with Akako... It would certainly end a lot of suffering...

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Then the door opened, revealing Hakuba with a stack of papers in hand. He looked around.

"Oh, I didn't notice you were awake," he said, closing the door behind him.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "What were you expecting?" he asked.

"I was expecting to talk to Kudou kun," he answered truthfully, "although talking to you will be fair enough."

Hakuba took a second to look though his papers before saying:

"I believe I've figured out something."

|.... just a little bit.| He unwrapped his arm, looking at his scarring skin before slowly dragging the sharp plastic across it and watching the blood appear. He felt the weight and pain fizzle and spark out through the wound.

"Figured out something?" Kaito asked, "Like what?"

Hakuba handed Kaito the stack of papers he had in his hands. Kaito glanced through it. It was a ton of notes on magic.

"Red magic has to do with love. I managed to find the specific spell that was used on you. I'm not sure what Akako told you, but there are two ways to break that curse of yours."

Kaito looked up from the papers. "And that is?"

Hakuba cleared his throat. "You can either obey the demands of the caster, or with the default option: sharing your feelings with the one you love the most."

Kaito's jaw dropped. He was joking. He had to be. There was no way that Shinicho figured all that out way before Hakuba did. There was no way that that's the way to break the curse.

There was no way.

It didn't take long before he realized it was settling in again. |... I guess once more is all right...| Again, dragging it, the pain leeching out every other kind of pain. He watched the blood trickle down his arm, breathing hard.

Hakuba snorted. "With that look on your face, I can guess that you knew that already and didn't believe it."

Kaito shook his head, trying to push away the redness that creeped along his cheeks. 

"N-no! I-I mean-!"

"So, do you have someone in mind?"

Kaito stopped functioning. Was this truly his fate? It wasn't going to stop until-

"Is it Kudou kun?"

Kaito's face went a deep red without his consent. Hakuba smirked. 

"Figures. Why don't you just tell him? I'm sure he's been asking you about it as well," he said.

Kaito tried to retort, but no solid words came out.

Shinichi looked at the fresh cuts on his arm. |...... right, he was hungry.... I'd better get going....| He cleaned himself up and put on new bandages, hurrying to the kitchen to make him something to eat.

"Do I really need to have a talk with you about this??" Hakuba asked.

"What?! No, I'm not talking to you about this!!" Kaito retorted.

Hakuba rolled his eyes. He wasn't planning it, anyway. "Then you should find someone to talk to. The longer you prolong this, the more pain you'll be in."

The detective left the room, leaving Kaito alone. Kaito sighs.

"...I really need help...."

He grabs his phone and starts to text someone.

Shinichi came in. "Ehi... got a sandwich for you..."

Kaito looked up from his phone. 

"Oh... thanks."

He looked back down and continued texting.

He set the plate down next to him and left again. 

  
  
  


A few hours later, Kaito was wandering around the house. He had his phone in one hand and used his other hand to lean against the wall for support. 

"Tantei kun?" he called out.

Shinichi cursed, quickly trying to clean himself up before Kaito walked in.

One door caught Kaito's eye. |I don't think I've seen this room before...?| he thought. He opened the door, taking a peek inside.

"Hello?" he called out, seeing if anyone was inside.

It was dark except for the daylight through the curtains. Shinichi was rewrapping his arm. Blood soaked through the bandages. "..E-Ehi..."

Kaito stared at the detective. Many emotions ran though his face; just as many thoughts ran through his head.

He took a careful step inside, not bothering to turn the lights on. "Shinichi...." he whispered, reaching out a hand towards the teen.

He turned away, resuming wrapping up his arm. "... what did you want?"

|I thought you told me this wasn't going to be a problem, but look at you!! Who knows how long this would've gone on had I not walked in here-|

"I was looking for you," he said softly, taking another step towards the teen.

"... Why?" His voice cracked. "... what do you need? ..."

"Well, now I need to know if you're okay...?"

He was finally close enough to be arms length from the detective.

"It doesn't matter." He stood up, unsteady on his feet. "We have to break your curse. Let's go see Akako already."

Kaito quickly sidestepped in front of Shinichi, gently pushing him back down onto the bed.

"We both need to make sure we are okay for this, first. And right now, I'm still getting over a sickness, which I think might go away quicker after getting rid of this curse, and you..." Kaito bit his lip. He knew he needed to be extra careful about the words he chose.

"Do you want to talk about this...?" he asked softly.

He turned away, closing his eyes tightly. ".... what do you care...."

|...I know I shouldn't do or say this.... but....|

Kaito sighed. "Fine." He patted his hands on his legs. "Fine. Come on, let's go. I've got something important for the both of us there."

"... What?" He glanced at him, confused. ".. Oh, did... Did you find a lead..?"

"Just come on. You'll figure it out when we get there. Then...."

'Then everything will be better...'

"... fine..." He stood, holding his arm close to his body.

Kaito had waited until they were out the door before he slipped his hand into Shinichi's. The boy didn't say nor make any mention of it; he was already as red enough as it was with his sickness. They walked to the train station, where they rode a bus to another point of town, and then walked to Akako's house the rest of the way. 

They finally arrived, standing in front of the house.

Shinichi took a deep breath. "... Confronting her?"

"Yep."

"... Okay."

They walked towards the entrance. The doors opened for them, as if they were expected. They took a few steps in before the doors slammed close behind them.

"Well, now!! I see you've finally decided on your answer!!"

The voice was from Akako, who stood at the top of the stairs. She was laughing her signature laugh from up above them.

Shinichi glared up at her furiously. He kept his mouth shut, by force of will, waiting for Kaito to speak.

"I did."

Kaito kept eye contact with her. He knew what he was doing. He did make his decision. He was ready. For a split second, he thanked Aoko in his head.

"And~?" She asked coyly, leaning over the railing.

Kaito held up his index finger. "Give me a second," he said. He looked over to Shinichi, turning the both of them to face each other.

"Hey, real quick. Remember when I said I had something important?" He asked.

"Yeah?" He blinked, unsure. |Shut up, brain. He doesn't like you. Shut up.| ".. what is it?"

Kaito quickly pulled Shinichi close, kissing him on the lips. As soon as they connected, everything seemed to lift off of himself, almost as if every burden of the world suddenly lifted off his shoulders. He could hear little bells ringing happily, like he was given a question at school and he answered correctly.

Shinichi's mind went blank, completely, a backdrop for the fireworks. He didn't know it, but his arms wrapped tightly around him, he closed his eyes, he leaned into it with eagerness he would've been ashamed of had he been aware of it. Everything was blank - there wasn't joy, not yet, but the pain was gone as well.

Akako stared at the both of them in shock. No... There was no way. How did Kid figure out the other option of the curse? How did it work with the Detective of the East of all people?!

'No! No, this isn't how this was supposed to go!!' she thought angrily. She stomped her foot onto the ground in a tantrum. She could see the curse leave Kaito's body; exploding off of him like a firework in the night sky of a festival in the pitch black skies of the summer nights. 

That was supposed to be her, not him.

Kaito pulled away first. He sucked in a deep breath as soon as he had the access to air. He smiled softly at Shinichi and said, "Stupid, this is why I care."

  
  


Shinichi stared at him breathlessly, his lips kiss-swollen. His eyes began to water with tears.

"... you fucking idiot..." He leaned in and kissed him again, hard.

  
  


A hand landed gently on Akako's shoulder. "Miss Akako...." Hakuba said softly.

Akako jumped slightly, looking over to Hakuba. "How did you get in here?!" she gasped.

"I followed them and took a different door... you have a very understanding butler." He knelt beside her. "Why did you cast this curse?"

She smirked, crossing her arms across her chest. "I don't have to tell you anything, Mr. Detective," she sneered.

"No, you don't," he agreed, smiling softly. "Would you prefer to hear my deduction, then?"

She snorted. "And what would that entail, might I ask?" she asked.

He quietly told her why he thought she'd gone about this. 

Meanwhile, Shinichi stared at Kaito, finally broken away for breath. "... Then.... why.... when I confessed...."

"Dude... I am a mess..." he said, catching his breath, "Why do you think it took me this long to answer?"

"I thought it was because you didn't like me, obviously..."

Kaito gave Shinichi a small smile. "Well, I'm sorry you don't have much patience," he snarked.

"You went into a panic attack, it was a fair assumption," he grumbled.

"Did I? I don't remember that."

"Tch... of course you don't."

"WHAT?!?!"

Kaito glanced over to the origin of the scream. It was Akako, and she looked completely appalled. It was directed towards Hakuba.

He stood calmly. "I see. So, my deduction was correct."

Akako scoffed, swishing her dress around. "Whatever! One day, all men will become my slaves anyway!! Ohohohoho!!!"

She disappeared into thin air.

Kaito sighed, shaking his head. "And she said my magic was lame," he scoffed.

"Mmm." Saguru went downstairs. "Are you two all right?"

Kaito sniffled. "Yeah... Still sick, however."

"Well, that's to be expected... Come on, let's all go home."

Kaito leaned against Shinichi tiredly. "Augh... We're gonna need a LOT of therapy after this...." he sighed.

"Mm...." Shinichi was just as tired. "Let's go...."

And thus the two went back to Hakuba's house to get fixed up. Shinichi went on to text Hattori about the situation, who completely flipped out and almost jumped on a plane right there and then had it not been for Kazuha. 

Kaito also texted Aoko and thanked her for her help and encouragement. She loved the new couple. 

Ran and Sera were told what happened a few weeks later, in which Ran almost broke the two of them in half for making her worry so much. She wasn't told about Shinichi's new cutting problem.

Speaking of, it was now Kaito's turn to keep an eye on Shinichi, to make sure that he would stop cutting. It was very hard for the both of them to do at first, since it had become a nasty habit for the detective and the magician had developed a slight phobia of blood.

Shinichi later contacted Sato about Akako and she went on to try to find the witch. Akako had left. No one had seen her since.

Thus ends the story of the thief and the blood curse. 


End file.
